Easter Reflection: the metaphor of light

Written for LinkedIn: view the original here.

 If these were ordinary times, tonight for many Christians would be the Easter vigil service. This takes place between sunset and sunrise the next day, and is the service of anticipation of the resurrection of Christ.

Since the lockdown was announced, its absence this year is one thing I have always acknowledged will be a struggle for me, though I shall be watching it happening online.

It is quite unlike any other service in the Christian calendar. In the Catholic version (other churches are similar), it typically begins outside in darkness. A fire is lit and blessed, from which a large paschal candle, following various ceremonial rituals, is lit. A procession then takes place into the church, with everyone holding their own, unlit little candles. As each person lights theirs from the flame of the paschal candle, darkness diminishes as the light increases, culminating in all the lights in the church being lit up.

The transformation from darkness to light is a beautiful visual phenomenon to behold, but it is also a beautiful metaphor. Each little candle gives only a limited amount of light, but put them all together and darkness is transformed to light.

The Christian religion makes powerful use of the metaphor of light. The bible begins with darkness over the face of the deep before God declares: “Let there be light.”

In the fifth chapter of St Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells a crowd that “You are the light of the world.” He also calls them the “salt of the earth” and this is the origin of that popular expression. It’s a pretty remarkable thing to tell a bunch of poor people, disenfranchised and living under the rule of a brutal occupying force that they are the light of the world.

I think we are like those little candles. Each candle may illuminate our way and perhaps that of those immediately around us, but we are all part of a bigger picture and a greater light. Our light gives light; what we are influences what and who others around us are.

It isn’t just Christians that cling to the metaphor of light. How many of you have talked about looking on ‘the bright side?’ How many of you have claimed to see ‘light at the end of the tunnel?’ How many of you have spoken of a great person as a ‘shining example?’

I sometimes wonder if that audience thought that Jesus was mad, telling them in their marginalised and weary state, that they were the light of the world. I wonder how many of us would find a claim like that about ourselves now similarly perplexing, especially when we are currently shielding from a threat not from ourselves but the very natural world itself. Everyone seems to be feeling pretty powerless in these ‘dark’ days.

That crowd in first-century Palestine lived in a world where the religious leaders with cultural influence had become very authoritarian. What reigned supreme in their priorities was strict religious observance, which meant following the very detailed and prescriptive legal code of the old testament.

Jesus wanted them to understand that it wasn’t about complying with laws but living by an ethos. IT wasn’t about following rules but being guided by values. It wasn’t about doing what was necessary but what was right. It was about going the extra mile, forgiving, giving freely without expecting anything in return.

For me, asking myself whether I am a light in the world is not about rating myself very highly in my own sense of importance. Quite the opposite in fact, for it is a simple lens to critically look at myself. Nor does it mean I’ve read too many tedious self-help books. Rather, it puts the challenge of being our very best selves in the simplest of terms, for what is more black and white than light and dark?

Dividing my actions up in this way, I see a similar black/white or light/dark distinction between offering kindness or harshness; laughter or sorrow; encouragement or discouragement; gratitude or ingratitude; building others up or pulling them down; acceptance or rejection.

It is, quite frankly, the very simplest of formulas for looking at our actions. We can illuminate or obscure new insights in others. We can brighten or dull their day. We can be the aid that guides others or the absence that clouds their way.

My faith is richly steeped in this metaphor, but it is a simple metaphor for everyone. The question of how one is a light in the world should inspire and galvanise us, because there is one thing I truly believe: the scale may differ but in some way, some place or somebody, each of us can change the world.

This is an important thing to remember now, as many of our worlds have shrunk in a way we could never have imagined, intensely focussed on our families and friends. Yet what a thought to take with us when we can all go back to life as normal. May that normal be a little more full of light.