Light

July 7, 2020

Psalm 36:9–“In your light we see light.” People look for enlightenment in many a dark place. The drug culture today is mostly a way of tuning out, getting high as a way of escaping the pain of life. Back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, psychedelic drugs were touted as a path to enlightenment. Of course, it wasn’t, but plenty of people stared into the darkness in search of a light that wasn’t there. 

Today, we still grope in the darkness for enlightenment. An endless stream of politicians and academics cite equally endless studies to support their conflicting opinions, all in an effort to convince, convert, and control the less enlightened. I shouldn’t leave out the religious hucksters, who are quick to tout their personal revelations and messages from God. 

No one can find light looking into the darkness, yet the darkness is where so many of us spend our time and focus our attention. Darkness must be engaged, but if we attempt to do so without first making sure we have light within us, at best, we get lost, and at worst, we become part of the darkness itself. Jesus himself said it: “If the light within you is darkness, how great that darkness is!” (Matthew 6:23). MLK understood as many today do not, that meeting violence with violence only serves to deepen the violence as it engulfs the soul of the perpetrator. Wars may be necessary to avoid or avert a greater evil, but they never seem to solve anything. WWII was a direct result of the unresolved issues stemming from WWI.

Too many of us live in a state of perpetual grievance which needs only a small spark to burst into flame. We’ve seen the tragic consequences of this grievance on the news every night, and even in Christian circles, conversations easily turn to whatever it is we are unhappy or upset about. There is much in this world about which to be aggrieved, but it is deadly to allow grievance inhabit our souls. The only remedy for darkness is to look to the light...Look to the light! Stare at, gaze upon, focus on the Light! Only if the light of Christ shines within us are we able ourselves to be lights in the darkness. The light of Christ only shines in us if we are looking towards the greater light of Christ. We are at best mirrors, and can only reflect that to which we are pointed. I choose...I MUST choose daily to look to the Light, for it is only “in your light that we see light.” I am thankful tonight that “The light (Jesus Christ) shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” —John 1:5