122 | Transcending the Dark

July 4, 2022 Daryl McMullen

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122 | Transcending the Dark Daryl McMullen

July 4, 2022

Minute of Transparency: Fear of the dark

Today's Topic: Transcending the Dark

The origins of darkness
There's dark, and then there's dark
Living in the light

// 1. THE ORIGINS OF DARKNESS

Let me start off by saying that there is nothing inherently wrong with the dark. There can't be - especially if you're a Bible thumping Christian.

Why? Because the Bible tells us that God created it:

Genesis 1:3-5 | Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

Interesting right? The fact that when God created the Earth He created both. Or, as the verse suggests - the darkness was already there - and He created the light to balance out the dark on a regular, daily cycle.

So isn't it funny that as Christians, we tend to view the dark in the negative - as a bad thing - to be avoided. We point to verses like:

1 John 1:5 | This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
John 14:26 | I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.
Not to mention that we often refer to Satan as:
- The "Father of Darkness"
- Or the "Prince of Darkness"

So why the strange turn of events?

Why does it appear God created the dark - and called it good. But then as time went on - the dark began to take on this whole other meaning?

Great question - glad you asked...

Because this is the whole reason for this episode. I was pondering this the other day and wanted to get a few things straight in my head - so I decided to do it on the podcast where you could come along for the ride.

So here we go...

My first thought went to the origin of this change. What caused the dark to go from good, to something a little more sinister?

And it didn't take me long to determine that it probably happened along with the other big change. The change we refer to as The Fall.

At some point in time - after our world was created - and things were going swimmingly...
Satan, then called Lucifer, was sitting in Heaven, and started to feel something unique - a twinge of something
Tension, irritability, jealousy - and eventually anger - anger at God for not allowing him to be part of the creation process
The Bible explains that this led to rebellion, and eventually war in Heaven
God fought Lucifer - and the angels he had won over to his side
And when the dust cleared - Lucifer was removed from Heaven - and banished to the very planet that was at the center of his jealousy
The Bible doesn't go into great detail about the banishment, how it happened and the science or physics behind it
But I have some ideas:
- Ideas that pertain to this conversation about the "dark"
- So go with me for a minute
- Think back to what our little planet may have been like before Satan arrived
- Think about Adam and Eve in the amazing Garden of Eden - where everything was perfect
- No pain, no suffering and no death
- Adam and Eve had a beginning - but at that time there was no foreseeable end point
- They were beings that would live forever
- So what do you think the dark part of the day was like back then? In a perfect world?
- To me - I try to imagine what it would be like to spend all day doing things with 100% energy - and never getting run down
- Then at the end of the day - hanging out with the Creator, walking around the Garden, until the most amazing sunset eyes have ever seen
- God goes back to His home in Heaven, and Adam and Eve lie down on a natural bed with perfect support - and no pressure points
- Their bodies aren't tired, aren't sore - but yet - they look forward to this part of the day
- The temperature is so perfect - they never felt too warm or tool cold during the night
- There were no bugs, or other distractions to complicate the sleep process
- And who knows - maybe they had incredible dreams - yet another reason to spend those hours in sleep
- And then - as the dark faded - they awoke with 100% energy and excitement for what lay ahead in their day
- No need for coffee, or a Red Bull to kick start the day
- Just a full, rich experience all day and all night
This is how I view the "dark" as God created it
Until Satan hit the stage, fooled Adam and Eve into eating the fruit from the tree that was off-limits to them
And the Sin Virus made its way from Satan to Us - changing things forever
And to me - this was the moment when the "dark" went from being good, to being used for other purposes
After all - this is the way the Sin Virus works
If everything before sin was perfect - and after sin - everything is tainted - and now has an expiration date
It makes sense that Satan works the same way
Part of his plan is to take every good thing and find a way to make it bad
So why not the dark?

Now before we move to the next section I wanted to bring up the whole "additional dimensions" conversation. Now, for those of you who aren't aware - here's what we're talking about:

So we all understand that we live in a world that is 3 Dimensional - right?
We call a person with no personality, or a very limited personality - 1 Dimensional
Because they seem to only exhibit one emotion or level of intelligence all of the time
Next, we understand what 2 Dimensional means
A drawing on a piece of paper is said to be 2 Dimensional - because it is flat - and you only see the dimensions of "x" and "y" - lines that go up or down, left or right
But we live in 3 Dimensions - from a drone up in the air our world looks 2 Dimensional
But when you stand on surface of the planet - you see all three dimensions
You see things on the "x" and "y" axis
But you also see that things exist on the "z" axis
In other words - a person has width, breadth and height
Our height is a measurement away from the surface of the Earth
Now I made that way more complex than it needed to be
Because we all understand the 3 Dimensions concept
But there are people who believe in additional dimensions
That they exist - and that we as humans are on a journey of enlightenment - eventually understanding and moving into these additional dimensions
If you're on social media at all - you may have seen posts about the 4th Dimension:
- Scientists explain the 4th Dimension as the time dimension (the "past-present-future" dimension)
- But on social media a lot of the time people use the 4th Dimension to refer to our thoughts, or stream of consciousness
And now there are posts discussing the 5th Dimension:
- Again, scientists believe there may be a 5th Dimension - and we won't get into that because I'm still working on my degree in Astrophysics...
- But our wonderful friends on social media have their own 5th Dimension - loosely based in these scientific ideas - but also pulling in ideas that are very science fiction in nature
- One of the big things I've seen lately is the conspiracy theory that there are scientific experiments happening on Earth that could tear a hole in the space time fabric between the dimensions we live within and those we don't understand
  - The main theory suggests that the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Geneva Switzerland will fire up here in early July and that we will start to see physical repercussions because of it
  - Interestingly enough I went to school and worked very close to Fermilab - in Batavia, IL - which is also a particle accelerator and collision facility
  - I'm not suggesting these conspiracies are true - but it is interesting that they even exist - and that we're able to work on the building blocks of life at this level
- And then there are the movies...
- Marvel's latest movies and television shows are rife with these ideas
- Called the Multiverse - it's the suggestion that there are alternate realities, alternate universes all happening at the same time
- And that if you were able to see this reality - you may be able to travel between these alternate realities
- Dr. Strange, among others has this ability for example...
- This overlap between pop culture, and conspiracy theories on social media isn't rocket science - they both feed off each other
- Movies like Inception and Interstellar fit right into this genre
- We'll talk more about Interstellar in a minute...
So what's real and what isn't?
- Well, like I said - I haven't graduated with my degree in Astrophysics yet - but when I do - maybe I'll speak to this in more detail
- But for now - what I want to say is this...
- As a Christian - there's no getting around the fact that there are other dimensions
- Because there are things going on that we can't see
- If our three dimensions are physical
- And the fourth is related to time
- Then there has to at least be a fifth dimension
- A dimension that is spiritual - where God, Satan, angels and things like that exist
- Now - I'm using the word "dimension" because that's what we as humans use to describe this sort of thing
- But that doesn't mean it's what it is
- There could be 4 Dimensions that we understand - then something completely separate from that - something that would have a completely different name, or label based on how it worked
- And that's fine - the Bible makes it pretty clear that we see through the filter of our humanity - and that there are things we will never understand this side of Heaven
But I digress - I went through that entire conversation about dimensions - because I believe that conversation and the conversation about the "dark" fit like a hand in a glove

// 2. THERE'S DARK AND THEN THERE'S DARK

So I want to split our conversation about the "dark" into two separate conversations:

Dark as in the physical dark
Dark as in the spiritually dark

So let's start with the physical by going back to Adam and Eve living in the perfect Garden. Where the dark part of the day we assume was perfect - somehow part of God's perfect plan for human existence.

Enter the Sin Virus - and now that perfect part of the day takes on new meaning:

For us - the dark part of the day is now mandatory
In other words - we talk about sleep deprivation, and how many hours of sleep people need to stay healthy
Instead of the dark part of the day being equally exciting and interesting as the waking hours of the day
We now view it as a necessary evil - something we have to do if we want to function the next day
Now - I get it - there are people who love sleep - they look forward to it - they complain that they aren't able to get more of it
But my take on these people is that it's not about the sleep itself:
- It's about the stress they're under during the day
- It's always chasing a good night's sleep
- And the inability to sleep enough to offset the craziness of the life they're living during the day
- Just my opinion...and not a strongly held one at that...
Next, there is the human desire to fight back against the dark:
- People who stay up as late as possible
- Cities that don't sleep
- Companies that employ people for all three shifts
- Redeye flights that allow travel during the night
- Establishments like bars, clubs and speakeasies that promote what we call "night life"
- All of these made possible because we invented electricity, the light bulb and made a way for people to be productive at any time of the day or night
Not that all of these things are wrong, or bad
They just exist now as part of the Human Condition
This is the life we have built and how we (in this country) choose to live

Next, let's talk about the spiritual side of the dark - which brings us back to the conversation we had about additional dimensions...

Because this is where I believe Satan does the bulk of his work. We're going to refer to it as the "dark" but it simply means it's happening and we can't always see it.

In the same way that I wasn't able to see the fish swimming feet from my face until it swam into the light.

In the same way - Satan exists in a dimension we can't see - and yet - has influence over us within, or at least from that dimension.

Here's another way to look at it: There is a scene at the end of the movie Interstellar. Matthew McConaughey's character enters a black hole out in deep space. His ship disintegrates, and he finds himself floating in an altogether different dimension behind the walls of his daughters room. He can't use normal means of communication to get her attention - but realizes that he can use gravity to influence dust particles and eventually the second hand on a watch he gave her. Using this - he is able to communicate important information to her - which she then uses to save humanity.

Similarly, Satan is all around us in one form or another. Either he himself, or his angels that fell from Heaven with him. Satan and these demonic forces live in this additional dimension - moving back and forth - within inches of us - working on us in ways we don't fully understand.

Now, I could do an entire episode on this specific piece. In fact we went into a lot of detail in both the Controversy Theory Series and the Conscience Driven Therapy Series:

But here is a summary from the CDT Episode. A list of ways Satan and his demons work to impact the world from the dimension they exist in:

Physical/Natural Afflictions
- Floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, etc.
Human-to-Human Afflictions
- Whether he "forces" us to do things, or simply plants the seed in our minds and waters it - it really doesn't matter
- At the end of the day, we do bad things to other people all the time
- And there is no doubt Satan is standing behind the curtain pulling the strings
Grief & Loss
- Everyone knows someone who has lost a child, sibling, spouse, relative or close friend unexpectedly
- Death happens all the time
- And it makes total sense that Satan pushes the envelope in this area
- Without the restraints God has placed on him - this would probably happen 10x as often
Health Afflictions (Medical & Mental Health)
- Along with the Sin Virus came hundreds of diseases, viruses and other medical problems:
  - We can't say with certainty that Satan physically afflicted us - though it's possible
  - But there is a good chance he comes at it from a different angle:
    - Maybe he is working hard on the physical/natural environment, the Ozone layer and our food and water supply - causing pollution and contamination in those areas which lead to an increase in these unexplained illnesses
  - Regardless how it happens, it is happening
  - And we are left dealing with pain, suffering and discomfort
- And then there is our Mental Health:
  - I think we can agree that grief, trauma, anger, and severe depression run rampant in our world today
  - And it would be naive to think that Satan has nothing to do with that
  - By feeding our culture with the technology to invent social media
  - By whispering in our ears things that aren't true
  - By telling us we aren't worthy of life itself
  - He pours it on to keep us off balance
Peer Pressure & Manipulation
- Family, friends, acquaintances, co-workers, social media connections
- Think of the power some of these people hold in our lives - and Satan knows it
- He uses their naïveté to speak the wrong things into our life
- Subtle suggestions that could lead to catastrophic behavior
- And then there are people who have less than upright motives
- Satan finds these people and fans the flames to get them to work on us like a weapon of war
Individual, or 1:1 Temptation
- And then there is good old fashioned temptation
- 1 on 1 time where Satan, or a demon, whispers sweet nothings in our ear
- Lying to us
- Telling us to believe things that aren't true
- Getting us caught up in things that will hurt us or others - things like drama, conflict and conspiracy theories
- Working every single day, minute-by-minute if needed to derail us

If you're interested in this stuff - you can go back and listen to previous episodes where we discussed Satan, his game plan for revenge and how he uses temptation in our lives.

Also - there is a book called The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis

Similar content - only written in story format. Incredible insight into the inner workings of the temptation business...

// 3. LIVING IN THE LIGHT

So what do we do about the "dark"?

How do we live so we're not constantly being tripped up by Satan and his little demons?

First off - it's interesting how Christians will limit the power of Satan to just the Christian world.

Suggesting that God and Satan are just fighting over Christians - people who claim to be Christian - or are Christianity adjacent.

But this is a bit limiting - especially if we believe that God created everyone.

Because of this - TH believes that the battle between God and Satan is over every single person past, present and future.

In other words, God and Satan aren't just fighting over Christians. They are fighting over Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and people who claim to have no religious affiliation whatsoever.

And how cool is that?!

To know that the God of the universe loves each and every one of us the same - that He would fight for us no matter where we live, what we're doing and how much we understand about Him.

This is the first thing we must understand in order to live in the light.

And the second is very similar:

When we start to view the world this way
We start to see the dark for what it is
We start to see the dangers that exist just outside our field of vision
Lurking in the dark water just outside the throw of the flashlight
And once we recognize these things - we're in a position to move away from them
Some things might be easy to stay away from
Others might require a lot of hard work
But all are important - they work together as we slowly Transcend Human
As we rise above the dark and into a more illuminated future

I'm not going prescribe this for you. Because you have to do the work for yourself.

It isn't black and white.

For me - alcohol was one of those things that dragged me into the dark. And in order to get back to living in the light - I had to make a very hard decision. I couldn't drink any more - at all.

But for you - this may not apply.

For you - it may mean getting out of a toxic relationship. It may mean signing up for therapy to work through some childhood trauma.

But whatever it is for you - move toward it. Put the dark farther and farther behind you - so you can see more clearly.

Let's Land the Plane:

This week - ask yourself the following questions:

Have you ever thought about the fact that God created the dark? And how it has been hijacked by Satan?
Are you able to see the spiritual side of darkness?
- The way Satan works to spread the dark?
- The way he works to keep us in the dark?
What would it take for you to leave the dark behind?
- And what specifically do you need to let go of?
- Make a list this week of the ways you believe Satan is working on you - and your first step in moving into the light

And that's it folks!

Thanks for stopping by - love having you with us.

I know this content can be a little dark - see what I did there?...

But in all seriousness, it's not fun to shine the light on the darkness that exists in life. The idea that there is someone working his tail off to make your life difficult - and to derail you from living your best life.

I hope you found this helpful - and that it pushes you to grow in some small way this week.

Until then, have a great week, keep moving toward the light, and as always, keep Transcending Human!

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