Talking About Dark Things
April 16, 2025
Are you a fan of or afraid of the dark? My husband and I frequently have a “battle of the lights.” Bright lights bother my eyes. Also, I was raised in a time when leaving any lights on in an unoccupied room would elicit a negative comment from my father about the high electricity bill. On the other hand, my husband never met a light he did not want to illuminate, and I frequently accuse him of holding stock in our local electric company.
Light and darkness, along with their symbolism, can be frequently found in Sacred Scripture (Genesis 1:4), as well as in the divine services of the Orthodox Church. One of the most profound examples is experienced on Pascha, Easter, the Resurrection of Christ, when Jesus rose from the dead. In a darkened Church, the priest emerges from the sanctuary with a lit candle, inviting us all to “Come, receive the light, from the never-setting light; and glorify Christ, Who has risen from the dead.” The dark church is transformed by numerous lit candles held by the faithful, while in glorious unison they cry out Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!
While the Church, and indeed all creation, are united in this salvific event, there are numerous issues that unfortunately divide the faithful. A perfunctory reading of the vast majority of Orthodox websites that comment on homosexuality are quite unpastoral and negative and even harmful in their views. Most of the conclusions in these postings made by jurisdictions, priests, and laypersons, center around human frailty, sinfulness, and our fallen nature and preclude gay people from having a loving, complete relationship, a marriage, which would include a sexual component, with someone of the same sex. While St. Paul states that “it is better for Christians to marry than burn[1], the Orthodox Church requires homosexuals to burn rather than marry.”[2] Certainly, sexual and gender issues are difficult to talk about. And yet, if the Church is to truly care about its faithful, it needs to talk about these issues openly and honestly and in light of our modern scientific understanding of gender and sexuality. Because the Orthodox Church, so loved by many LGBTQ faithful, has often made us feel “ignored, confused, and oppressed.”[3]
Sister Wendy Beckett was a Roman Catholic hermit nun living in England who rose to international fame for her books and television appearances about art history. In a letter to her correspondent Robert Ellsberg, Sister Wendy wrote: “Dark threatening things need to be talked about so that the light of God can shine in the darkness.”[4] I am not sure what dark and threatening things Sister Wendy experienced, however, I do believe that we need to talk about the things that are dark and threatening for us and others to allow the light of God to shine brightly and boldly in each of us.
For many Christians, perhaps especially for Orthodox Christians, seen as part of one of the most “conservative churches”, talking about sex, gender, and especially homosexuality or transgenderism is threatening and dark. And yet, if we are people of God, a people of faith, talking about things that are uncomfortable for us, even threatening, can lead us to light and life. There is no Pascha, no Resurrection without death. Christ is Risen!
[1] 1 Corinthians 7:9
[2] This quote can be found in an essay written by Mark Stokoe entitled “A Brief Plea on Behalf of the Real in Theology and Pastoral Practice” in a collection of essays “For I Am Wonderfully Made. Texts on Eastern Orthodoxy and LGBT Inclusion”, edited by Misha Cherniak, Olga Gerassimenko, Michael Brinkschroder. 2017, p 77-8. I have seen this quote in other literature, and I am unsure of its original author.
[3] Introduction by Michael Brinkschroder, in “For I Am Wonderfully Made. Texts on Eastern Orthodoxy and LGBT Inclusion”, edited by Misha Cherniak, Olga Gerassimenko, Michael Brinkschroder. 2017.
[4] Dearest Sister Wendy …A Surprising Story of Faith and Friendship, by Wendy Beckett and Robert Ellsburg, 2022, page 155.