What if the shadow we cast isn't something to eliminate but part of the medicine for what ails the soul?

In this conversation from our series, “Christian Shadow Work,” Patrick and Jonah further explore how Christ relates to our darkness. This involves nothing like condemnation but rather a creative and radical process of integration that leads towards healing.

Drawing from the biblical image of the bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness (Numbers 21:8-9), they reveal how the very thing that has poisoned us can, when rightfully integrated, become part of the medicine that heals us. This spiritual principle illuminates again why "there is no condemnation in Christ" (Romans 8:1). Our shadows are included in the divine plan, integrated by God into the path that leads us into spiritual maturation. They are something possessing enough power and personal relevance to bring us to the threshold where grace can enter. Fighting this integration, rejecting the shadows we cast, actually rejects this wisdom-permeated divine path.

Going beyond just the ideas, this conversation unfolds a practical pathway for shadow integration. It begins with the courage to behold our darkness honestly; the step of taking responsibility by saying "yes, this is me"; exploring what our shadow is trying to teach us; and finally, allowing our weakness to become an altar at which we can pray for divine assistance.

After exploring individual examples from their own lives, Jonah and Patrick focus on what they experience emanating from Christ in these experiences, emphasizing how he doesn't approach our shadow with a corrective spirit saying "you should be different," but with a transformative invitation to "become new through this darkness."

Our very specific life-journey, with all its unique shadow elements, isn't a failure to meet some general ideal but a holy alchemical process guided by the highest spiritual forces in the universe. When approached this way, our shadow becomes not our enemy, but the very doorway through which our deepest healing unfolds.

Support the show

The Light in Every Thing is a podcast of The Seminary of The Christian Community in North America. Learn more about the Seminary and its offerings at our website. This podcast is supported by our growing Patreon community. To learn more, go to www.patreon.com/ccseminary.

Thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed our theme music, “Seeking Together,” and the legacy of our original show-notes and patreon producer, Camilla Lake.

In this third installment from our “Christian Shadow Work” series, the conversation reveals a striking contradiction between Christian history—famous for its condemning practices—and Christ's actual relationship with human darkness. Rather than simply erasing or punishing sin, Christ demonstrates a radical integration of human brokenness into the transformative process. Like an alchemist turning lead into gold, Christ shows us how our darknesses can become the very substance of our spiritual maturation.

We explore why modern spiritual paths that simply affirm "you're perfect as you are" miss something crucial about human development. Without acknowledging our shadows, we remain stuck in a static self-image rather than participating in the dynamic process of becoming. Our darkness isn't merely tolerated by divine love—it serves a purpose in our becoming fully human.

The third episode of our series looks again at the nature of “shadow” or “sin” as that in the human being which hinders Divine Reality from being revealed. Humanity is still working to reveal the image of God in which we have been made. We can understand our shadows, then, as opportunities to grow and mature—parts of ourselves that need to be acknowledged, understood for what they are, and transformed over time.

How does Christ Jesus relate to the sin of humanity? He demonstrates for us the path of salvation by taking up the cross, suffering, dying and being raised again by the Father. We can take up our own sin with Him and walk the same path.

Support the show

The Light in Every Thing is a podcast of The Seminary of The Christian Community in North America. Learn more about the Seminary and its offerings at our website. This podcast is supported by our growing Patreon community. To learn more, go to www.patreon.com/ccseminary.

Thanks to Elliott Chamberlin who composed our theme music, “Seeking Together,” and the legacy of our original show-notes and patreon producer, Camilla Lake.