Light of the World

Light of the World

On the longest day of the year — the summer solstice — human cultures across history have celebrated light: bonfires, festivals, rituals. At the solstice we have the most light we will have in the year — and it feels like abundance. C.S. Lewis wrote that the physical light of summer is 'a rumor about the eternal morning.' Every sun is a metaphor that points beyond itself to the One who is not a source of light but Light itself. Jesus claims at the Feast of Tabernacles — during which enormous lamps lit the temple courts through the night — to be the light whose nature the torches were pointing toward. The summer solstice light at its fullest is a shadow of what He is.

John's Gospel opens with 'In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.' Jesus' claim 'I am the light of the world' is the embodiment of that prologue. He is not a reflector of divine light — He is the source. 'Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness' — the condition is following. Light is not passively received; it is followed. To follow the light is to walk in the direction it points, to orient your movement toward its source. The promise is comprehensive: 'never walk in darkness.' Not 'rarely' or 'less often.' Never. The follower of the Light has access to guidance, clarity, and life-giving illumination in every situation. Today is the longest day. Walk in the light that never fades.