December 25, 2024 (Light and Darkness)

Au commencement était celui qui est la Parole de Dieu. Il était avec Dieu, il était lui-même Dieu. […] En lui résidait la vie, et cette vie était la lumière des hommes. La lumière brille dans les ténèbres et les ténèbres ne l’ont pas étouffée. 

—Jean 1:1, 4-5

I was reading first John recently and went down a whole internet rabbit hole about the way light interacts with darkness, and how darkness itself is defined.

In astronomy, dark matter is some sort of very mysterious matter that doesn’t even interact with light; dark matter is invisible, while light itself is visible. Dark matter’s very existence seems to derive not from itself, but only by what it is able to pull and influence.

Darkness, in the electromagnetic sense of the word, is not even a physical entity. It is not something that exists or takes up space at all. Darkness, in this form, is defined only as the absence of light.

Darkness in the Bible, of course, refers to all sorts of evil—spiritual, physical, and otherwise.

I found it fascinating to turn these many definitions and parallels over in my mind—letting them lead me towards a deeper understanding of the radical truth I so often need in my own life: “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Jesus, tiny baby born in a lowly manger. Jesus, light of the world and savior who overcame every kind of darkness, evil, death.

Anyways, Merry Christmas everyone. My brother-in-law got me a side-by-side French-and-English Bible for Christmas, and I am freaking LOVING IT. Even though I don’t understand all the words in French quite yet, lol. It’s only fun times ahead, as I absolutely slander this lyrical language with my hard consonants and long, awkward pauses.