The Brilliant Light and Mysterious Darkness
In Christian theology and the Christian mystical tradition, both light and darkness hold their places as symbols for the power, grace, and holiness of God. I want to describe the import of darkness as a locus for encounter with God, then give emphasis to Light as an image for divine encounter.
Some writings of the early church recognize some experiences of darkness as profound encounters with the Holy. Contemplative modes of prayer accentuate setting aside powers of description since the mystery of God surpasses powers of reason. Third-century bishop, Gregory of Nyssa, shows in “The Life of Moses” that when a cloud came over the top of the mountain of God, plunging the prophet into darkness, it represented the deepest engagement with the Holy. This surpassed even the experience of the burning bush. He builds a concept of movement toward union with God. In it we discover Gregory as promoting both a mysticism of light and of darkness.
A mystic from the late fifth and early sixth centuries, Pseudo Dionysius the Areopagite follows a similar double line of thought. His work on the Names of God shows the strength of using reason and insight to progress in faith and prayer. On the other side, his work on Mystical Theology proposes that given the ineffable mystery of God we progress further by admitting that anything we say or think of God is not in fact God. This path of negating all that we might say of God moves the believer into silence and a paradoxical illumination through the darkness.
Quite similarly A fourteenth-century English mystic (unidentified) wrote the “Cloud of Unknowing.” In this work, he coaches the seeker to let go of attempts to pray with words, thoughts, and symbols, and to let a cloud of unknowing stand between ourselves and God, bringing us closer than any human means of reason ever could. To name one more example, the sixteenth-century Spanish mystic, John of the Cross wrote poetry signaling that sinking into the difficult Dark Night of the Soul, far from being a regression, was actually a movement toward a deeper connection to the divine.
All of this stands alongside the counterpart symbol of light. We very naturally see the revealed uncreated light of God as conveying grace and divine illumination. Our lessons at Christmas time reveal the birth of Christ as light and life coming into the world. Many Christmas hymns point to this light. Let’s keep it light here on the final leg of this piece; we could play a game. I will list the phrases from Christmas Hymns texts, you see of you can identify the first line of the song from the list below those:
“…yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;”
“It came, a blossom bright.”
“God from God, Light from Light eternal,”
“Today, as year by year its light bathes all the world in radiance bright,;”
“…light and life to all he brings, hail, the Sun of Righteousness!”
“…God with you is now residing; yonder shines the infant Light:…”
“…behold throughout the heavens there shone a holy light.”
“…Son of God, love’s pure light radiant beams from thy holy face...”
Match up the above phrases with these hymns…
Go tell it on the mountain, Hymn 99
O come, all ye faithful, Hymn 83
O Savior of our fallen race, Hymn 86
Lo, how a Rose e’re blooming, Hymn 81
Hark the herald angels sing, Hymn 87
O Little Town of Bethlehem, Hymn 79
Silent night, holy night, Hymn 111
Angels from the realms of glory, Hymn 93
How did you do? Blessings, and Mary Christmas. We wish you the Light of Christ.