Every year I try to identify a word or a concept that I resolve to implement more deliberately in my life or be more cognizant of.  This year yin/yang or contrast is a perspective I have committed to being more aware and appreciative of in the year 2021.  I have settled on this as my focus for the year partly because of the unsavory  influence of 2020.

We were all impacted in 2020, to some degree, by the pandemic and its fallout.  So pervasive was the reach of this global catastrophe that every life was altered or affected to some degree by the defensive counter measures put in place. The pandemic was accompanied by many natural disasters, socio/political controversies, and general unrest spurred by uncertainty.  (Go ahead, say it, “Thanks Mrs. Obvious! Tell me something I don’t know.”). Well, as a result, 2020 will likely forever have a negative connotation associated with it because the negative attributes of 2020 were emphasized, magnified, and reinforced repeatedly.

Yet let’s not overlook that there actually were good things happening in the midst of the 2020 chaos. I know it isn’t the trendy thing to highlight, but the families into which the 3,791,712 babies were born likely feel 2020 left lasting happy memories of joy in its wake.  There were untold stories of heroism and sacrifice as healthcare workers and civilians alike combined their resources to respond to needs across the nation. Many lives were saved as the result.  There were many examples of division blasted upon the digital and network avenues to be sure, however there were countless more acts of unity and cooperation that went unreported.  

Did the manifestation of so much negative news that made the good happening around us more noticeable or less noticeable?  Were there so many things going well that unwelcome surprises of 2020 were magnified or did the magnitude of the pandemic cause us to trap our thoughts in a negative loop, never noticing the contradiction of positive events still happening in the midst of chaos? Without rain, would we notice the sunshine? Without cold would we notice the warmth?   Without illness would we have any gratitude for health? Without defeat would there be any victory?  

2020 was a rough year for me personally.  I hit new lows in mental and physical health.  I lost  a parent, a pet,  and  perhaps my perspective.  The pandemic compounded difficult challenges at work into what seemed insurmountable obstacles which hijacked my attention personally and professionally.  I realize my challenges were minuscule compared to the tragedies life handed many in 2020.  Yet nonetheless, my reality was my brain crashed into an invisible wall constructed of sharp, pointy rocks (for those of you wondering I was not texting and driving). The wall I hit served as an impetus to search for relief from stress, which generally steers me towards art and God’s Word.  Proper perspective was key.

Painting is an effective stress relief tool for me.  The act forces my left brain to shut down and allows my right brain to drive for awhile (the right brain drives on highways of sunshine and happiness; any walls encountered are constructed of chocolate covered marshmallows, messy, yet delicious and harmless).  My right brain is gloriously ADHD and is completely unaware of time or the stressful events filling my news feed.  I have learned in the disengaged, hallowed halls of the right brain that a painting is not successful without contrast.  Contrast in values is crucial.  Without darks, the lights have no impact.  Without light values, the dark is simply an uninteresting dark.  Artists know that the greatest contrast between light and dark in a composition should be where they intend the center of interest to be, because it draws the attention of the human eye first. For a painting to have light, it must have dark.  There must be elements of the unexpected to add interest and attract notice. To really see a painting, you need to step back to provide proper perspective; to be able to take it all in- to fully see it in all its messy glory.  

The Bible, likewise, points out the necessity of perspective in life, and often highlights contrast and contradiction, completely counter- intuitive at times.  For example, to have more, we must give more.  Check out Proverbs 11:2-25, “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.  Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”  Or Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you.  Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.  For with the measure you. Use it will be measured back to you.”  You are unlikely to find this philosophy outlined in any university level business textbooks promoting capitalism.  

Another upside- down concept presented in the Bible is “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.”  Matthew 19:30. This verse would make absolutely no sense to any respectable, rule- following first grader, nor to anyone standing 4 deep in a line at the DMV.  Yet the rules abiding in God’s kingdom are often are mirror opposites of those we observe on earth.  

Perhaps the most mind-blowing concept for us to swallow is that to truly live we must first die, both physically and to self.  In Luke 9:24-25, Jesus proclaims, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it,” or John 11:25-26, “ Jesus said to her, “ I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

The ultimate paradox is the life of Jesus.  He is the perfect embodiment of a sinless life; God in human form.  Yet he was attracted not to those who were perfect (or at least those professing to be) but to those knowingly trapped in the darkness of sin – the tax collectors, prostitutes, the broken. 

“…Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’ “ Mark 2:17 (NIV)

His light served not just to reveal their sin, but to provide hope and  shine a light on the escape route.  He modeled the ultimate display of servanthood by willingly giving up His life to give each of us a path back to God, forever removing the veil between God and man so that we could boldly and undeservedly approach Him with our need for forgiveness.  We would not know we existed in the darkness of sin if it wasn’t for the contrast of His light and goodness outlined in the Bible.   

So I begin 2021 with hope in the illogical, the opposites, and the yin/yang of God’s kingdom.  I embrace storms because they highlight the coming calm, I accept misfortune because it grows my gratitude, I accept darkness because it magnifies the appearance of light.  I have a prediction-  this year, like every year prior,  will present us all with both difficult and gratitude-worthy events.  May your 2021 be filled with recognition and acceptance of blessings and gifts that God has provided us in the midst of whatever may come.