May 3, 2011

This morning I read a poem by Billy Collins entitled, “Fishing on the Susquehanna in July.” It starts like this: I have never been fishing on the Susquehanna / or on any river for that matter.  

Life is full of surprises, and many times these unexpected things make life enjoyable. But not always. The tornadoes of last week surprised a lot of people, some of whom did not get to safety, and died. Osama Bin Laden was surprised by our Special Forces last Sunday and was killed. They wrapped his body in a white sheet (as Islamic law requires) and dumped him into the ocean. Not a good surprise for him, but a positive surprise for us here in the U.S. 

Today it’s raining—only 55 degrees this morning. Yesterday when I walked in the morning it was 73 degrees and seemed very hot to me. Pat has gone over to G & J’s house to do laundry. I’m preparing to go to the dermatologist this afternoon. The first time I went, they looked me over from head to toe, and it was the toe that told the tale. A fungus-amung-us. I sometimes wore sandals in hot weather, but always felt embarrassed by my ugly brown toenails. No problem; they gave me some pills to take, and that has nailed it. My toenails are almost completely white now. The pills pillared the disease.

This afternoon we will pick up Norah at Montessori school and bring her home for supper so that her parents can have some time alone. Then I’ll watch The Good Wife which according to previews will be an episode in which the good wife becomes the angry wife, telling her husband off about an affair she had not known about. It should be pretty dramatic.

I’ve just read Growing Up Jung: Coming of Age as the Son of Two Shrinks by Micah Toub. Then a synchronistic thing happened: I opened up my Ode magazine and read a couple of articles on dealing with our Shadows (a Jungian concept). I need to process my Shadow Self more intentionally. When I have those judgmental feelings toward someone, I need to stop and meditate on my own tendencies which I’m really judging. In other words, we project onto others the very tendencies we have in ourselves that we don’t want to own up to. Bringing the unconscious into consciousness—or bringing our shadow into the light—is a healing thing to do.

When Jesus told the religious leaders (John 9) that they were blind because they wouldn’t see, I think he was onto a Jungian truth about shadows and light. In fact in the chapter before that story (John 8) Jesus had said: I am the light of the world; the one who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have light and life. 

In the life of Jesus we see how the Light welcomes the Darkness and transforms it. If you have trouble finding words for ‘God,’ just say ‘Light.’ 

I believe in the Light. Just like the medicine took my ugly toenail and made it a pretty toenail, Jesus takes our perceived ugliness and turns it into beauty. The darkness turned into light. Surprise!

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