the dark and the light

A fellow swimmer recommended to me Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie, and I finished it Friday night. A wonderful, wonderful book. At one point a soldier (whose pupils are white, irises grey, and what we called the "whites" of the eyes black) is in a sword fight with all his considerable skill against his own shadow, which is still joined to him by the feet but otherwise independent. One of many morals of the tale is the importance of living with both the dark and the light.

My church had the Great Litany of Easter starting at 5:30 am. Once people were settled all the lights were turned off, and a new fire kindled with a flint. We lit candles and did the first part of the service by candlelight. At 6:30, at sunrise, we reached the place in the story of salvation history where Jesus rises from the dead, and the lights went on and the black cloths were removed from the windows. Darkness and light.