What We Do In The Shadows
A friend has been telling me to watch the TV series What We Do In the Shadows for a while, so I finally did. It is humorous and satirical, but also relevant. The series is a mockumentary in the style of series like The Office in which cameras are present for a household of vampires as they go about their lives. In the first season, the vampires are charged with taking over the “New World,” which for them is initially Staten Island. In the shadows, they scheme and work to subdue the town council, but their efforts are done poorly. The show is a comedy of the uncomfortable kind in which the protagonists do not understand their “prey.” That which is done in the shadows often ends in humorous disaster for the vampires.
While What We Do is the Shadows is a comedy, most things done in the shadows are not funny. When I think of those things done in shadows, I think of actions that people hide because if they were seen in the light, they would be exposed as nefarious. In the Star Wars Skywalker saga, the Sith work in darkness hiding their machinations and influence until the truth exposed and Emperor Palpatine seizes power. In Tolkien’s Middle Earth, Sauron works in the darkness and shadows as he works to remake the world as he wishes it to be. The poem of the rings speaks to the darkness of Mordor.
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind themIn the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
The writers of scripture mention that light shines and exposes things done in the darkness. Secrecy and actions done in the shadows rarely lead to goodness. The writer of First John talks about the difference between walking in the light and walking in the darkness. While this passage is about sin and the effects of sin, we can see how it applies to actions hiding in the darkness.
The Great Spirit is light, and in him there is no darkness. This is the message we heard from the Chosen One and are now telling you. If we say we are in harmony with him yet walk a path of darkness, we are living a lie and not following the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we will be in harmony with each other as the lifeblood shed by Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the Son of the Great Spirit, cleanses us from all our broken ways.
If we say that we have no broken ways, we are lying to ourselves, and the truth is not alive in us. If we name our broken ways, our Creator can be trusted to release us from them and purify us from all wrongdoing. If we say we have never walked in broken ways, we are calling him a liar, and his words are not at home in us. (1 Jn 1:5–10 First Nations Version)
Walking in broken ways is an apt description of actions done in the shadows and of the desire to hide actions. Light has a tendency to expose intentions and motivations, as well as call attention to them. Leaders who work to threaten and intimidate in order to keep things in the shadows violate trust. If they do this within the Church, a denomination, or other organisms of faith, it breaks the covenantal relationship. If actions and work are done in the shadows it calls into question motivation, fairness, and goodness. If threats are utilized to keep something in the shadows, it makes you wonder why. Why does something need to be done in the shadows? If the intentions and actions are good, what reason would there be to keep the process hidden from view?
When polity is wielded in the shadows, it becomes the road of darkness. If we are afraid of the light; does that not lead to walking in darkness? The church should be a place of light, not fearing that very light when shining inward. If polity is followed fairly, what reason exists for hiding the movement of polity or discipline? The question is especially apt if the accused is sharing the process, which removes any concern about privacy of the accused. Kindness and faithfulness are two call outs within the discipline sections of the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene as an example of the usual church language. Polity which works in the shadows is not kind nor is it faithful. Polity which uses threats to stay in the shadows is controlling and allows for abuse and is antithetical to kind and faithful movement.
“In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie.”
