Two of the three light bulbs over the mirror in the bathroom were out, but I didn’t replace them. Navigating was obviously strained from the lack of light, but I don’t know why I didn’t see the urgency of swapping them out. Nobody else did either. The longer I let it go, the more I got used to being without, and the more I got used to groping. Without light, life is oddly difficult to navigate because light helps us see what we’re reaching for, and… it helps us see what we really look like.
Scientists say that light moves. A few have tried to stop light but when they thought they had succeeded, realized that when the light stopped, it wasn’t light anymore.
Light is both obvious and mysterious. Mirriam-Webster defines light as “the form of energy that makes it possible to see,” but some light is invisible to the human eye and said to be “above the range of visible light.” I like that; it makes sense when I think about God —- The Light of the World. We also know that when light hits a surface, (or a heart) it bounces off and spreads. I like that too.
Light shines and dazzles and is a source of illumination in the midst of chaos. It can light a path, warm cold hands and heart, start a fire, and give life. Light clarifies things, lifts a person’s spirit, and kindles hope.
Oddly enough, included in the list of light’s antonyms are the words “obscure” and “nobody” meaning that the opposite of light (no light… or darkness) can mean “unknown” and “unnoticed.”
Darkness hides value, but the opposite of light is anything but unimportant because you and I have felt the weight and obscurity of darkness before, and we know that being in utter darkness intrinsically causes the urgent, frantic desire to get out of it. This tells us something vital to our living and healing. It tells us that God has put life – eternal life – in our souls. He has put the need in us to grieve the loss of a life because death is a darkness we were never meant to experience.
We “walk” through the valley of the shadow of death; we were never meant to live there. It is in Him, the Light of Life, in Whom we are to live, move, grieve, and exist, not in death’s charade and gloom.
Death and its accompanying darkness & pain are an obscene mockery of Life and God’s accompanying light and healing. It is life’s antonym, but it does not have the last word because The Word, the First and Last Word became flesh and dwelt here, then left His Spirit to continue on in us as The Light to mankind.
I decided I didn’t want to grope anymore. I wanted to see and not strain; I needed to know if it was toothpaste or Aspercreme I was putting on my toothbrush, and I definitely wanted to know what I looked like.
I did finally change the bulbs in the bathroom. The funny thing was… nobody else noticed. Nobody else noticed – except the darkness. That alone was worth it.
Grieve in The Light today, Dear Believer. Keep doing the work of it, but mourn your loss in The Light. Then, even in the midst of your pain, you won’t be groping. You’ll always know what you’re reaching for, and you’ll be able to see what you really look like.
“The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:16 ESV)
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (John 1:5 NLT)
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12 NASB)
“Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going.” (John 12:35c NLT)