God gave us The Light: it is not a loan!

Our God-consciousness grew along with our civilization. Anything more powerful than man needed a closer-look: trees, rain, moon, snake, lion, water or air. They were all worshipped in the history of human beings at different or at the same time. Solar deity shares a greater part of our earlier spirituality. Many cultures have worshipped the Sun or a physical representation of the Sun throughout history: Egyptian Sun-God Ra, Greek Sun-God Helios and Indian Sun-God Surya all riding in a chariot (2000 years before Christ). One of the most sacred hymns to God in Hinduism (Gayathri mantra) was dedicated to the Sun which is the representation of God (Shiva or Vishnu – debated).

The concept of ‘Light’ is not new to the Jews. The Psalmist in Ps 27:1 already sang ‘Lord is my light and my salvation.’ Prophet Isaiah talks about walking in the light of the Lord… or people have seen a great light… or Lord shall be an everlasting light. All these connotations have some influence of the Sun which is so central to the life of human beings. Sun holds the living space of human beings, lights it up for our biological eyes to see and enjoy the nature, and provides for the green world so that we may have life. The early Church adopted the spirituality of the sun-god and easily applied to resurrection: All Sundays are days of Resurrection in our Christian tradition.

God revealed Himself to us in different ways: sent us priests, kings and prophets. They were all witnessing to the light. No one claimed that he or she is light except the son of Mary and Joseph, a carpenter from Nazareth who hangs around with a bunch of uneducated fishermen and others. A prophet cannot be called ‘The Light’. ‘The Light’ is one of the strong symbols which represented God in the Hebrew society. It is often accompanied by words such as ‘salvation’, ‘life’, and ‘truth’. When Jesus claimed that He is the Light, he wants us to realize that we live in darkness.

The love of God assures that that Light is given to us: God so loved the world that He gave… It is not to be understood as ‘we received the light’. God gave the light to us as a free gift. It is not a loan, not to be taken back. The person who received the light will be shining in darkness. He or she is able to see the Heart of God and walk in the way of the light. When II Vatican proclaimed that Christians are to be the light of the world – it wanted us to see the dire need of the world today: Our world is in darkness. Darkness rules in lawlessness, carefree Epicurean societies, in people who claim to be gods themselves, pleasure overtakes spirituality and in lives that is filled with misery and hopelessness.

We have lot to do. As light brightens up and kills darkness, as light burns away the unwanted so too Christians go about spreading the light of Christ. So much is given to us; so much is expected of us. Every Christian is a light. Let us illumine the lives of our brothers and sisters who live in darkness.