All the Light We Cannot See

Earlier this year, Darlene and I read Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See. The novel is set in Germany and France during World War II and follows the parallel stories of a German soldier and a blind French girl. As the title suggests, the premise of the book is that: In the midst of so much darkness and ugliness, there are always little beacons of kindness and light that often go unnoticed by the larger world. And Doerr does an excellent job of pointing out all of that unseen light.

After finishing the book, however, it occurred to me that the same thing could be said of the actual light in our world. In fact, when we consider the entire electromagnetic spectrum, we realize that the light which is visible to our eyes is only a small fraction of the total that is out there. Indeed, from ultraviolet and infrared light and beyond, the amount of the available light which we can see is a rather insignificant part of the whole.

In terms of God and Scripture, the fact that most light is invisible to our eyes is critical to beginning to comprehend the greatness of Almighty God. After all, this awareness of our limitations helps us to better appreciate God's majesty and the complexity of "His" plans. In short, this knowledge demands humility and patience. For, if we cannot see everything that God is doing, how can we possibly claim to completely understand "His" will or have the audacity to condemn "Him" based on the very limited data which is available to us?

In this connection, it is also interesting to note just how much God is associated with light in Scripture. In Genesis, we have God speaking light into existence before anything else was created. In the gospel according to John, we read that Jesus Christ is THE light of the world! Likewise, in the first epistle of John, we read that "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." Paul also told Timothy that God dwells in the midst of "unapproachable light." Paul refers to Christians as the "children of light" and underscores the fact that they have been called out of darkness. In similar fashion, Peter told the saints of his day that God had called them "out of the darkness into his wonderful light." Even so, Paul also warned the Christians of his day that they were then only able to "see through a glass, darkly."

It behooves all of us then to be aware of the fact that there is much light which we cannot currently see. In a real sense, this is where FAITH comes into the equation. Because God created light and IS light, we must ourselves come to see that God is able to see the entire electromagnetic spectrum - not just the small portion of light which is visible to our eyes. Hence, in both a literal and a figurative sense, God is able to see more than us. And, when we see God in this way, we can begin to accept the superiority and reliability of our Creator and "His" plans for us. Thus, we can finally get to the place where we can rest assured that God can see the end of all things - even when we can't!