A Light Shining in Darkness
IN John's description of the power and presence of Christ in the world, he uses the analogy of light. John says: ``In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.''1 This light of Christ, this spiritual illumination, is a divine influence that brings spiritual enlightenment and healing to human thought. It can dissolve fear and confusion in our lives.
Jesus presented this spiritual light in the most penetrating way possible. And he could say of himself, ``I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.''2
This spiritual light illuminates the true nature of man. Since the Creator is God, divine Spirit, man is spiritual, not mortal nor material. The light of Christ reveals man as the spiritual offspring of God -- free from sin and sickness.
It might be tempting to think, ``Well, spiritual man and spiritual light are nice to think about, but I need real help!'' Help -- real help -- is just what the light of Christ brings. It brings us radically different views of ourselves and our world that can actually transform our lives in practical ways.
For example, John tells how Jesus healed ``a woman taken in adultery.''3 Christ Jesus disarmed the woman's accusers with the penetratingly simple command ``He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.'' Not only did Jesus thus save the woman bodily, but there are indications in the Biblical account that her entire life changed for the better.
When there is turmoil or fear in our lives, we are asleep, in a sense, to the truth of God's creation. But the light of Christ can awaken us by revealing the man of God's creating, who is free of fear and sin. And the awakening caused by the light of Christ continues -- there is no dawn or dusk to this spiritual light.
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes of the awakening from mortality, ``This awakening is the forever coming of Christ, the advanced appearing of Truth, which casts out error and heals the sick.''4
Our part in this spiritual regeneration is to value more highly the light Christ, Truth, is shedding into our lives -- to open our eyes to it and to respond to what God is showing us. I sometimes think of it this way: If I suddenly found myself in near-darkness, I would value each small glimmer of light that did come. What light there was would be very precious. Of course, we are actually flooded with the light of the Christ. And as we turn to it, this spiritual radiance penetrates and illumines our lives like a beacon!
A healing experience I had several years ago might help illustrate the practical nature of this Christ light. I had started a major project for my family. As I reached a point where there was no turning back, suddenly I found myself overwhelmed with the enormity of the job. I felt extremely fearful and confused.
I did pray, though. I prayed sincerely and daily about what I was doing. Soon there was a breakthrough. I noticed that whenever I refused to allow fear to govern me, the tasks went well. This showed me that fear was the problem. So, from then on my prayer was to understand myself more clearly as not separated in any way from God's love. My fear was healed to the point that I was able to finish the project in good order. And it was a success beyond what we had ever imagined.
1John 1:4, 5. 2John 8:12. 3See John 8:3-11. 4Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 230.
