Made for Light
Finrod: Do you know why a ship floats and a stone cannot? Because the stone sees only downward. The darkness of the water is vast and irresistible. The ship feels the darkness, as well, striving moment by moment to master her and pull her under. But the ship has a secret. For, unlike the stone, her gaze is not downward, but up. Fixed upon the light that guides her, whispering of grander things than darkness ever knew.
Galadriel: But sometimes the lights shine just as brightly reflected in the water as they do in the sky. It's hard to say which way is up and which way is down. How am I to know which lights to follow?
Finrod: [whispering in her ear words we only hear later in the show] Sometimes we cannot know, until we have touched the darkness.
Galadriel: But that seems so simple.
Finrod: The most important truths often are.
As a photographer, light fascinates me. I look for light everywhere. The way it hits certain objects, creating a halo around it; the golden glow on leaves and faces; when it streams through the trees creating beams; that 'golden hour' light that is just.... *chef's kiss*; when light refracts and creates rainbows; light like sparkles on fresh fallen snow or on flowing water; brilliantly colored sunrises and sunsets; the orange glow of a bonfire on faces and the way it ‘dances’ in the shadows, and even how light most often has warmth- you can feel the light. Sometimes I see the way light quite literally brings me to tears. Light is actually the reason we have color. And colors also bring me to tears. Quite honestly, nature, God's creation, brings me to reverent tears for the Creator.
Anyway, my appreciation for light in that manner is possibly why this word picture meant so much to me. And, as I am reminded about biology as I teach my children in school, light brings life. Light cultivates life. Without light there is no life. And I have lived with no Light. It was cold and despairing. I have touched the darkness, been buried in it, and was dead. Then Light came and shone in my heart and brought what was dead to life.
My sweet friend, Shelby Curry, wrote this and I thought it was beautiful and am sharing with her permission:
“Life attracts life.
The dead feel comfort among the dead. No need to change. No need to develop or grow. Immaturity is allowed to stagnate and ferment. Those who see themselves as victims of life end up in this gutter and stay there, never accepting its challenge and rising up to the occasion.
Misery loves company.
But those who migrate toward light are those who want more of life. They want to know what life is about. And as they approach the truth, they in turn become full of life.
They see where flourishing happens, and they rush to the source.
Life attracts life.
"For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life." 2 Corinthians 2:15-17”
As Light reaches further into my soul, as Jesus opens my eyes more and more and the light pours in, illuminating the darkness, dancing on the surfaces, making prisms on the walls and providing unparalleled beauty, there can only be more love. More love for Him, His Word, and His creation… all of it. But the light is a gift. A gift that I didn’t know I needed until I had it. And only the Giver can help me see the light. I cannot make light on my own. But with Him in me, I can shine His light, reflected like the moon reflects the sun.
I desire only one thing- to reflect The Son. And where there is Light there is love.
Post Tenebras Lux- After Darkness, Light
“Here is joy that cannot be shaken. Our light can swallow up your darkness; but your darkness cannot now infect our light.” ~C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
“A man can no more diminish Gods glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.” ~C.S. Lewis
“Happiness can be found even in the darkest times if one only remembers to turn on the light”. ~Albus Dumbledore
Psalms 118:27a
The LORD is God, and He has given us light;
John 1:4-5
Life was in Him,
and that life was the light of men.
That light shines in the darkness,
yet the darkness did not overcome it.
Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Genesis 1:3-4
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
Ephesians 5:8
for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
Ephesians 5:13-14
But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says,
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.”
Psalms 18:28
For You light my lamp;
The LORD my God illumines my darkness.
Psalms 36:9
For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.
1 John 1:5-7
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Revelation 22:1-6
Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.
And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.
John 3:19-21
This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
*Beginning of Nicene Creed*
I I believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only begotten Son of God,
begotten of the Father before all worlds;
God of God,
Light of Light,
very God of very God;
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father,
by whom all things were made.
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