Light & Life

In the darkest part of the year, I want to share our family's daily ritual of lighting a candle at our dinner table each night. It's a way to come together, and have a moment of calm and presence, warmth and light. As we light the candle, we say, ‘Christ, our light,’ all together as a reminder that we don't have to bring the light to this circle. It's already here- a gift from our Maker.

For the past year or so, light has taken on a deeper importance to me. I was on a health struggle and my endocrinologist was helping me improve my thyroid function. She said that I need to be sure to get sunlight each day. It was so important for every level of cellular function — that we are basically solar batteries we run on the sun. I've struggled with seasonal affected disorder since I was a young teen, and the dark days of winter tend to get me down. The way I experienced the world in winter feels so different. But now that I've made it more of a priority to get out in the sunlight, as often as possible (and take additional vitamin D when there simply isn’t enough sunlight to be had) I feel the vitality that comes with exposure to natural light. Along with vitamin D, sunlight increases, serotonin, helps with melatonin that increases restful sleep.

I also have been fascinated to learn of the power of fire light, candle light, and bonfires. There have been studies that show that when we look down into a fire, we have stem cell growth that's activated in our bodies. The flicker and spiraling shape of the flames is a Fibonacci sequence that's very regulating for humans to observe… it is a mathematical equation that we receive as beauty. The flicker of the flame creates brain waves that are meditative going straight to our mood centers. Being around fire encourages social behaviors…the kind of talking that happens when people are together around fire is different than the kind of talking that's done during the daytime. There's a sense of communal gathering and relationship. The warm amber glow of, um, natural light and firelight flame, promotes calm. There is a measurable decrease in anxiety and cortisol. A study from the University of Alabama showed that seeing flame and hearing the crackle of fire decreases blood pressure.

Light and life are so connected : two differences (male+female) come together to make a new life and at the moment of conception of photon(the smallest particle of light) is emitted. With light and life so connected, is it any wonder that the Maker that the great artist uses light as a symbol for the presence of the goodness of God?!

When the smallest particle of light: a photon was visualized based on mathematical calculations the image is the shape of an eye. Curt Thompson, in his book The Soul of Desire states that the most under the most underneath all our longings is the desire to be known. Having someone look you in the eye with compassionate understanding is the epitome of feeling known.

Considering all of these aspects of light and fire, it is so powerful to see how the ancient texts telling us about God use these images. God is the Creator- the Artist who would be very strategic in designing potent symbols imbuing meaning into his artwork- creation. The first account of a human giving a name to God is a woman, Hagar who says, “ surely you are the God-who-Sees”. She was enslaved woman experiencing an abuse of power and rejection: pregnant and abandoned in the wilderness. God shows compassionate provision to her. El Roi is not the eye in the sky of judgment but the gaze of loving kindness.

Then, God displays his protective presence to the Israelites escaping slavery in Egypt as a pillar of fire. Then, God comes even more powerfully to be with us- even taking on our very humanness in the person of Jesus Christ. In the book of John (1:4-5) Jesus is described as “the life was the light for all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn't extinguish the light.” There was even a glowing sign of light in the night sky to announce his birth... ancient wise men who studied the stars were so struck by it that they travelled far to honor him.

Is it any wonder that the great Artist, Creator designed light, and our relationship to it, to be a symbol of our connection and dependence to this life-giving, communal/connecting being: God.

I created an eye shaped pond in our ‘Living Waters’ garden this summer …the following video clip explains the thoughts and process behind this work of art.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSaEia9Davv/?igsh=MXFuMmdjZG9nMThyYw==