You may be attending or organising a ‘Light Party ‘ in the next few days.
Most religions have a festival of light at this time of year as nights become longer. I tried to research what light actually is. It’s complicated. No single answer to the question “What is light?” satisfies the many contexts in which light is experienced, explored, and exploited.
The physicist is interested in the physical properties of light, the artist in an aesthetic appreciation of the visual world. Sunlight warms the earth, drives the weather, initiates life. Light provides a window on the universe. Through the sense of sight, light is a primary tool for perceiving the world and communicating within it.
Light gives us information. Through the invention of the telescope, we can see the universe and the microscope opens up the tiny world to us as we use light sources to enable these revelations.
Theories of light as rays or waves or a mixture of both have been put forward. Yet it seems so simple. When we have light we can see, when we don’t we are in the dark.
Jesus said He is the Light of the World. As Tim Hughes wrote:
‘Light of the World, you stepped down into darkness,
Opened my eyes, let me see beauty that made this heart adore You,
Hope of a life spent with You.’
May You find the True Light, be enlightened by Him, and glow for others to see Jesus and glorify God through Your witness. Amen