The Forces of Light

The metaphor has become a cliché; the forces of light battling the forces of darkness. But the way this metaphor has been understood has sent Christianity, and perhaps even other religious groups, down the garden path, as they say; precipitating courses of action that are completely antithetical to their core beliefs.

The metaphor of light and darkness, especially as it finds a place of expression and influence in religious rhetoric, gets its explanatory force, as do all metaphors, from the way that light and darkness actually relate to each other in our everyday experience. The image in this metaphor, as it is brandished by some, is used to evoke the picture of battle and struggle; indeed, it is used to produce a sense of urgency under the threat of, not just mere failure, but eternal damnation; a literal war, if you will. It is no surprise, then, to discover groups who have taken up this metaphor in their own religious beliefs, treating their religious zeal as a kind of preparation for war and battle.

The story that usually goes with the metaphor is that unless the forces of Light are fully committed, then the forces of darkness (evil) will win the battle. This battle, as it is played out in the lives of individuals, is seen as a microcosm of the greater cosmic battle between God and Satan; God as the commander of the forces of Light, and Satan as the commander of the forces of darkness. It is, therefore, incumbent upon every believer to "fight the good fight" of faith so that this failure, and consequential damnation, does not occur. Indeed, the whole theological problem of good and evil sprouts from the seed of this very understanding of the metaphor. Austin Farrer's God Almighty and Ills Unlimited was written as a testament of faith grappling with the intractable, inherently illogical problem of evil and the title articulates the problem in nux.

In the face of these ills we are driven to ask: "where is God with so much evil in the world?" "Where is God with so much sickness and death; so much natural calamity; so much economic upheaval and political unrest?" "Where is Love?" We have ills unlimited, yet God is almighty; as they say these days, "what's up with that?" "Why isn't something being done?" This, briefly, is the problem of evil; and I maintain that the source of this problem resides in the way the metaphor of light and darkness has been understood; or, rather, misunderstood. The way that this problem has been addressed in orthodox theology is a very good example of individuals ignoring Einstein's observation that we cannot solve our problems from within the same consciousness that created them.

The explanatory force of a metaphor comes from actual experience; thus, when the poet says that "the fog comes on little cat feet," we understand this to mean that the fog creeps in silently, as do little cats. This is an important relationship to keep in mind when taking up any hermeneutical endeavor involving metaphorical images in texts. And if we are to properly understand this metaphor we must look at that in our everyday existence upon which the metaphor rests, namely, the very ordinary and obvious relationship between light and darkness.

Perhaps the most astonishing demonstration of exactly what this relationship amounts to occurs when you enter a fully darkened room and turn on the light. There is no partial retreat of the darkness, only to rally and advance once again on the light; there is no recession of light in the face of an advancing darkness. Once the light is turned on, the darkness is immediately and summarily vanquished. There is no struggle, there is no battle, there is no resistance of any kind. This is the message of the metaphor. As children of God (the Light) we do not have the spirit of fear because the Light has no opposite; and because "greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world." Indeed, there is only Light. The message that is conveyed by the metaphor is that, just as the darkness has no power against the light, so neither does the "darkness" of this world have any power over you. The corollary to this, which many religionists are loathe to accept, is that there are no armies of evil nor is there a commander of the "forces" of darkness, because darkness has no force that can be commanded. This is the true meaning of One God.

When Isaiah says "Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God is One God..." he is saying exactly that. There is no other God; God is all-encompassing; and what is all-encompassing can have no opposite. The Light and God are One; the Light and Life are One; Love and God are One; and the name of that One is "I AM." This means there is only One "I AM," God. And we are instructed further on this when we learn that " 'I' and the Father are One." When we learn that "the kingdom of God is within" us, we should be able to see that it is the "I" of us that is the Kingdom of God, not the ego of us. Our name is the name of a location of God; it is where God acts to take dominion of creation. This is what the scripture means when we are promised that we will be "filled with all the fulness of God"; and this is why there was a crucifixion, Jesus dared to defend this very claim by quoting David, who had said "ye are gods" and by speaking of himself as being God in that he undertook to forgive sins.

The next time you turn on the light in a fully darkened room, just look and see how much struggle there is; look and see if the darkness has any power. And then in stillness find the "I AM" of you to begin your life afresh. The legions of Light move across the face of the earth and all human darkness disappears.