Light exists because of darkness.
Life exists because of death.
Good exists because of evil.
These representative lies, endlessly repeated through dramas, movies, and even the mouths of literary figures and thinkers, are extremely harmful. But they sound quite plausible, so once you fall for them, it’s very easy to get lost. As Haruki Murakami said, once you get lost, the forest deepens endlessly.
Humans cannot endure darkness. That’s why we sleep or die in the dark. If you think of night as darkness, you are mistaken. The reason we can endure the night with a clear mind and sometimes even enjoy its unique atmosphere is not because of the darkness of the night but because of the moon, the stars, or even the light of a lamp. Imagine complete darkness. In complete darkness where you can’t see an inch ahead, a person becomes unable to distinguish space and soon loses track of time. They might even forget how to breathe. If they could listen to music, it would be a little better, but that’s only a temporary measure. It wouldn’t be strange if they started hallucinating or went insane soon. That’s what complete darkness is like. Far from making light stand out, darkness is merely something that light helps us endure.
The same goes for death and evil. Just as we cannot endure darkness, we cannot endure death or evil. If we can live even while suffering from evil, it is because we are not yet under the reign of complete evil, and “some good” is at work. Humans cannot endure complete darkness, complete death, or complete evil. Therefore, saying that light exists because of darkness, life exists because of death, or good exists because of evil is just plausible wordplay. Upon closer examination, it is completely different from the truth. If darkness had any merit, God would not have scattered so many stars and the moon across the night sky, hindering the darkness. Darkness has no merit. Night simply requires less light than day for various reasons. Or it is a time to appreciate the harm of darkness and the preciousness of light. In any case, we must remember that complete darkness has never existed since the beginning of time.
We reject complete darkness. But complete light is an ideal. (That’s why people love the weather in California more than in England.) We reject complete death. But complete life is an ideal. We reject complete evil. But complete good is an ideal. Perhaps the truth is this:
Light is proof that darkness is unnecessary.
Life is proof that death is unnecessary.
Good is proof that evil is unnecessary.
With light, with life, with good, we must prove that darkness, death, and evil are completely unnecessary. Paradoxically, such things are temporarily necessary only to prove that they are “unnecessary.” Because to find out that something is unnecessary, it must first exist as an object.
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