12.06

Look for the Light (God & Brook)

Isaiah 9:2

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”

The late author David Foster Wallace told the story of two young fish who encountered an older fish out for a swim. In Wallace’s telling, the older fish nods at the younger fish and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” As the two young fish swim off, one turns to the other and asks, “What is water?”  

Just like the fish who can’t see the water they’re in, we are blind to the light that surrounds us. Science and scripture both teach that darkness was here before light. And at times it seems like darkness is all there is. The phones in our pockets are little windows to a dark and unsettling world, where the lazy drift of a thumb along glass can, in an instant, unlock a stream of cruelty, violence, and suffering. 

But what a miracle it is that we have any light at all. What a gift that goodness exists. Somehow, it is all around us. In a world where nothing is guaranteed – where anything can disappear in an instant, and everything disappears in the end – darkness has not yet prevailed. Light always shines through. 

Look for the light. You will know it by the things it illuminates.

— Brook Andrews