Darkness and Light

This morning I woke up hearing Beethoven's "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" -- especially these words, "Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, op'ning to the sun above....Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away...Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day...

It is overcast today, and rain seems to hover somewhere up there over us.
But our hearts are filled with eternal joy and God's true light.

I had to go back to Psalm 111 and 112 again. Lately I have been unable to focus on other Psalms -- These parallels are impossible to ignore. In Psalm 111 we see God's holiness, and in Psalm 112 we see how man can be holy -- and they are the same traits. That sure clarifies how we are to live and shape our character -- to follow God's character!

In 111 "His [God's] righteousness endures forever." In Psalm 112 "His [man's] righteousness endures forever." In Psalm 111 "He [God] is gracious and compassionate" and in Psalm 112 it says the righteous man is gracious and compassionate. And Psalm 111 tells how God shares and provides and Psalm 112 tells how righteous men are generous and share. And many more.

But I have to stop at 112:4--"Even in darkness light dawns for the upright.."
And then in Isaiah 9 we read "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."

I was one of those people -- living in darkness and then -- the Light of God dawned -- didn't arrive -- it had always been there -- but it 'dawned.'
(And that's a reason we call it the 'good news', right?)

We talk a lot about light and darkness these days. We talk about a curtain of darkness beginning to cloud over our land. Well, in a practical sense, darkness must come when the light is no longer shining. We leave a room and shut off the light.
So part of the darkness around us is because we are no longer shining. And any small flicker of a flame will dispell some darkness. (And if we all lit just one little candle?")

Now I am trying to concentrate on darkness. What do we know about it? Is it just the absence of light?

Oh, before I forget, I have to include this C. S. Lewis quote: "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everthing else."

That is part of my experience -- seeing God's light enables me to see everything else clearer.

Well, anyway, a great writer is Hugh Ross, who is a well-known astrophysicist and astronomer. He is the author of numerous books and earnest in his endeavor to teach "Creation as Science" in our universities. He has founded a Christian group of scientists called, Reasons to Believe.

So I decided to see his thoughts on darkness:
He says, "...twenty-first century discoveries about cosmic darkness have yielded the most impressive scientific evidence to date for a supernatural, super-intelligent Creator, the God of the Bible.

"In Job 38 God asks, 'Where does darkness reside? Can you take it to its places? Do you know the paths to its dwellings?' For over 3000 years no human could answer. But now astronomers know that darkness makes up 99.73 percent of all the stuff of the universe. They know that dark stuff comes in 3 forms. They've even determined where these different forms of cosmic darkness reside:

1. Ordinary dark matter - resides in halos closely surrounding galaxies of all types
2. Exotic dark matter - resides in halos closely surrounding galaxy clusters
3. Dark energy - resides everywhere, evenly distributed."

Dr. Ross goes on to say, "The precise locations and amounts of this exotic and ordinary dark matter provide exactly what's needed for a stable spiral galaxy, and advanced life is possible only in a stable spiral galaxy....spectacular evidence for supernatural, super-intelligent design. The level of fine-tuning in the dark-energy component alone is astounding. If it varied by as little as one part in 10 120th (that's 10 with 119 zeroes after it) life could not exist in the universe.
What explanation, other than the God of the Bible, can anyone give for this level of design?

Job 38 includes nearly 50 questions about nature that underscore the incomparable wisdom and power of God. Scientists today can only answer 10. And yet the answers we do know show the intricacy of God's plan, the steadfastness of God's purpose, and the magnitude of God's care for the creation, including His living creatures."

Dr. Ross points out, "What's more, each answer researchers find yields powerful new evidence for believers and doubters alike that God exists and that His Word can be trusted. Both our hearts and our minds can embrace His provision for our redemption and our eternal life with Him."

Praise God for His power and for His revelation to us, His humble creatures. We can count on His faithfulness as He has revealed Himself to us.

Just another reason to keep singing Beethoven's "Ode To Joy"

All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise,
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea
Singing bird and flowing fountain, call us to rejoice in Thee!