The Nature of Light
Light is revelatory. It exposes the unseen and reveals the seen. Light is the fastest phenomena to appear when called upon, and the most notable absence when taken away. It brings knowledge of the external world. The intensity of light—in the extreme sense—can be used as a cruel judge; a form of punishment that ends up blinding someone (which is the opposite purpose of the light). If someone lives in darkness though, an appropriate measure of light becomes such an oppressive and blinding light. We can see from this that the purpose of light in our life is dependent on our perception. God reveals Himself to us in an appropriate fashion, so that our perception can see Him best.
The Nature of Shadows
A shadow in a sense can be a place of rest, ex: resting under the shade of a tree. Like the sabbath, a shadow, or small element of rest, can enhance or bring context and flavor to that which it adorns. For someone to hide, or live in the shadows, is to embrace Acedia, the fear of labor and suffering. The light heals but also burns you the longer you are in it. It brings Vitamin D and other essential nutrients, but it can also give you sun poisoning. It can burn your eyes if you stare straight into it. A shadow gives context to the presence of time and motion in creation. The sun is the source of light in the external world, and shadows are the excess that isn’t integrated into the absorption of the light. We aren’t fully integrated into the light, as there is always a bit of shadow left over. When the sun is at its peak and most intense, that is when our shadow is the smallest, but it still remains—even if it is small. When the sun is absent, all is shadow and darkness, but if you give your eyes time to adjust, they can see in the dark, showing that there is still a bit of light. At the end of all things, when there is no time or variation, only then can we look upon the true light, and not live in sin, where corruptibility or variation will pull us in two ways. A shadow is a reminder that we live in time and that we are to labor, but also take rest.
The Nature of Words
Words (The Logos) in the Christian sense are also tied in to the light—thus the seen and unseen. The Word reveals the inner soul of man, his intentions and thoughts. It confesses and can be used to deceive. The darkness of words can be used to deceive and cause chaos, the opposite intention of logos. A word paints an inner logo or symbol in our mind for something external that it represents. A sentence of words, let’s say a description of a bright sunny day where red flowers bloom on a tree, and the green rolling hills spread out as far as the eye can see; such an image in our mind blooms from the words used to form it. There are layers of truth to what is said. It can be said in a historical or scientific way, describing an actual place that someone saw. Truth can be used in fiction or parable to highlight a spiritual meaning on how to live our life, or just to make us appreciate the beauty of a tree, and the mystery therein. It can also be used against the nature of how it is proposed, such as a witness giving false testimony in a courtroom to save themselves from prosecution. The Logos is a tuning instrument that holds the world in reality, but deception is the spirit of “Anti-Christ”, the word intended for discord and also in attempt to be used “in place” of the true logos—a false paradise and savior, so to speak. This is what makes the deceitful person so lost, because in the end, they deceive themselves by considering themselves the true logos, when in fact they only bring discord and offer themselves as a replacement for Christ.
The Nature of Music
Music is heavily dependent on time, and since there is music from the angels, it seems like time isn’t done away with in heaven, but perfected and contextualized around the glory of God. You can see that as culture moves away from worship of God, music becomes more distorted, chaotic and loses consistency. The liturgy is the highest form of music because it is the fulfillment of time, unchanging and beautiful. With streaming, as more and more musicians share their music, it is easier for someone to get their music out, but now everyone has niche interests and there aren’t many collective songs that our groups and communities enjoy or dance to together (aside from the Swifties). To dance is to align our bodies with the rhythm of music and with others around us, just as harmonies and singing in tune teaches us to be in harmony with others. Time teaches us to obey, otherwise things fall apart. To live outside of time with infinite knowledge, we would lose the hope of our repentance and asking God to be our source of “tuning” our instrument. Instead we would only rely on our “self” (whatever that deformed image would morph into). We wouldn’t be able to “die” or see ourselves fall apart, and know that we need correction. One of the interesting things about correction is that it is raised up into order THROUGH mystery. To learn something is to have faith in the authority of the teacher, otherwise we are always uncertain whether we are dealing with Christ (The True Word) or Anti-Christ (The Deceitful Word).
Concluding Thoughts
Light is the eternal truth, and shadow is the rest as we move into that truth. The light of God is too bright for us right now because of the darkness of sin, so Jesus (The Word) in the flesh (Context / Action) is a way to see the full brightness of God’s light in a filter—so to speak—appropriate to see and follow. We have a teacher to have faith in, one who has led by example, that we may choose faith and follow in his steps. All other teachers are Anti-Christs, as written in 1 John, because they have deceived themselves and deceive others by choosing that there is any other way to salvation. It is like saying any other light (like a lightbulb) is the true light when comparing it with the power of the sun. In the darkness, when the field of perception is without form, the Word calls forth the light, fulfilling the longing mystery and making it known. Division between us is an opportunity to call out to one another, to rejoin in communion, with God as our center. Let us not sit in stillness or silence with headphones in some dark corner of existence playing our own tunes and reveling in the pride of our taste that is so unlike the others, but let us acknowledge our sins, that we are in need of retuning, and form communities where we can dance together in the faith that our love for each other, and community, is the wish God has for us, rather than being the smartest, richest, or most clever.
