Dark Hollow stream and me...

Growth of the human person takes place in the dark. Matthew Fox

Sabbath Rest Farm has a lovely little mountain stream, sometimes called a creek where I grew up, running through it. It begins at a spring with hidden underground water and is hardly worth noticing. The flow of water is puny and insignificant. Somehow as it travels through the narrow little valley on its way to our farm, it gathers strength until it becomes a full fledged stream bouncing over rocks on its way to the French Broad River. It isn’t large enough to fish in but it is full of life and its voice sings as it flows into our pond. The course of the stream winds its way through sunshine and shadow, widens and narrows, shoots over rocks and flows through flat shallows. Underground water...unseen until it breaks out to the light...
My friend James and I laugh about being members of a minority in American culture... introverts floating in a sea of extroverts. We married extroverts and we love them but they are so different from us. Our children are a mix of extrovert and introvert further adding to the confusion. James and I can turn on the extroversion as needed for parties, work, church or life in general but it is hard work for us, work that leaves us drained. So we look like extroverts in our behavior... “I can’t believe you are introverted. You are so good at speaking in public!”... but pay a hidden price for that effort.
Introverts are difficult to understand unless you are another introvert. So much of what goes on with us lies hidden to public view. Even those who love and live with us have difficulty deciphering our interior selves. In every introvert flows an underground river of great depth that occasionally breaks forth into the sunlight like Dark Hollow stream. We live with the unspoken judgement that finds us wanting because we cannot measure up to the cultural norm, be like everybody else. Our forays into the Land of Those Who Live Outside can be fun, frustrating, and enlightening for friends and family.
Matthew Fox’s quote reminds me that darkness, quietness, underground living is necessary. Like seeds that swell and burst underground, our souls require the removal from light and sound to grow. Whether we be extroverted or introverted, the chatter and busyness of daily living can clog up our soul stream, separate us from our Underground Source. Quiet time, time to settle, time to let that which has been hidden come to the surface, time to flow towards God... Like Dark Hollow stream, Lord, let me run towards you. Help me bubble up into the sunlight sharing my hidden self with you and the other children in our family. Keep me balanced in light and shadow, self revelation and self shielding. And someday, Lord, let me flow into your loving arms with all my darkness and hidden self fully revealed, loved without reservation or expectation, free at last to be the one I was created to be. Amen.