"Shadow Dancing!"

On February 2 in the U.S., Ground Hog Day is celebrated. “The story of Groundhog Day begins with Candlemas, an early Christian holiday where candles were blessed and distributed. Celebrators of the holiday eventually declared clear skies on Candlemas meant a longer winter. The Roman legions, during the conquest of the northern country, brought this tradition to the Germans, who concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, a hedgehog would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of bad weather or ‘Second Winter.’ German immigrants brought the tradition to Pennsylvania”

So on this day, chief weather forecaster, Al Roker from the Today Show, steps aside to allow Punxsutawney Phil to become the prognosticator of future forecasts about our season of winter. If the groundhog sees his shadow – we can expect 6 more weeks of winter; no shadow, we can expect an early spring – woo-hoo!  So there’s nothing like a shadow to get us turning around and inviting us once again to go deep within ourselves and “hole up” with our shadow memories. 

However, the word “shadow” moves me to think of Carl Jung and his work on the Shadow aspect of our personality.  According to one author, “the shadow represents all our disowned, despised, and repressed traits.  It lives buried in the closets of our subconscious minds safe from our judgments.  The shadow is our ‘dark side.’ It acts out for us all those denied emotions and urges we wish we didn’t have. If we insist on always being kind and loving for all the world to see, it will express our other side by sometimes taking over and harshly misbehaving.  It is grounded in fear, drama, and competitiveness; it can destroy our relationships if not tamed.  Its sacred purpose in our transformation is to remind us of our emotional unfinished business . . . The shadow dissipates or lightens when we accept it. . . .When our shadow does manifest, we’ll know it is time to listen to its message rather than act on its impulses. We need to see that the shadow, too, can be our friend.”

So moving a little more thoughtfully into the “shadow”, I invite us to recall Sister Dorothy Stang, a Notre Dame de Namur sister.  Dorothy was murdered on February 12, 2005 because she confronted the “shadow” side of the Brazilian government who denied rural workers and peasants rights for their lands. 

“In spite of Sister Dorothy's good work for the people of Para and the world, protecting the rain forest by encouraging sustainable farming techniques presented a threat to loggers, land speculators, and agribusiness concerns in the region. As a result, in the late 90s she was named to a ‘death list’ created by the power brokers of the area.”

“Sister Dorothy repeatedly asked the city, state and national government for protection for the people but she was always refused. Then on February 12, 2005, on a dirt road at the Boa Esperanca settlement in a rural area in Para, two hired gunmen fired six shots and killed Sister Dorothy. She was murdered because she had put into place programs that created self-sufficient communities of people committed to their own independence as well as to the sustenance of the rain forest. As the gunmen approached Sister Dorothy, she took her Bible from her bag and began to read the Beatitudes: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice...”

So in these days before February 12, there are websites with novenas in tribute to Dorothy and all who are willing to confront the Shadows of poverty, crime, war, abuse of power, trafficking of children, abuse of global resources, and on and on.  And as our Sunday Scriptures present the Beatitudes from Matthew’s Gospel, let us enter into a willingness to name our “shadows”, embrace them, listen to them, accept them, befriend them, and ask for the grace of transformation to be a disciple and witness of healing, freedom, and peace for ourselves, all those we encounter, and our world.


http://www.snddenca.org/nourish-spirit/novenaintro/


http://www.sndohio.org/sister-dorothy/Dorothy-Stang-Novena.cfm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id5jYgUjgQo