Here in the northeast I see the light returning from winter’s hibernation. It has been a long and dark winter for many of us. It has been extremely cold. I think back to when I was a kid and loved this kind of weather. In fact, weather in general, never seemed to pose a problem. One just lived around it and through it. But the light… that was another thing. The light or absence of the light was always profound in one way or another.
Light
To be light
To see light
To feel light
To light up
To be lit
God created light.
There are lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.
Moses saw God as a blinding light.
Like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless day, like the light after rain that brings grass from the earth.
There are three kinds of light, according to Tomus Hagioriticus, (circa 1340) (1)
Sensible light
Intellectual light
Uncreated light
St. John of the Cross speaks of the uncreated light – of a spiritual light which overflows on the senses causing sometimes great joy and sometimes great pain. The uncreated energies are of light and love. (2)
Augustine, John, Hildegaard, Teresa, all spoke of the uncreated light, not just of God, but within others—people in their life. This light is in all that surrounds us if we have eyes to see, hearts to feel, and the mind to comprehend a reason for the light. Even in the mystery of it, there is reason for light, regardless of whether we do or do not understand it.
I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The spring equinox is just days away and the sun now rises at my bedroom window, behind the white bark of the sycamore trees. Even when I close my eyes I can still see the light.
And in this light I will once more be transformed.
1) Mystical Theology, The Science of Love: William Johnston pg. 60
2) ibid pg 61
Photo digitized and created by M. Gibson
