Let the Light Shine in the Darkness
Dear Friends,
Last month I visited Cragside National Trust, the world’s first house to be lit with electric lights. It is hard to imagine how impressive its lightbulbs must have been in a time when homes were lit by flickering oil lamps and candle light. Even more impressive - by today’s standards - is that Cragside’s elec-tricity came from fully renewable sources. There was no such thing as the National Grid; all electric power was generated locally through an ingenious system of hydro-electrics, harnessing the power of water and gravity.
It made me wonder if we could perhaps use Osbaldwick beck to power the lights in church? You see, during September, the lighting system in St Thomas’s will be fully renewed. (Please note that the church will be closed during the week, but be open on Sundays!) The new lights will use the latest energy-saving LED technology, and perhaps, one day, they will be powered by solar PV panels. For now, we hope they will simply offer much increased brightness at lower energy costs.
Jesus often spoke about ‘light’. He referred to himself as the ‘light of the world’. During his lifetime, his words and actions were as revolutionary and illuminating as light bulbs were to Victorian households. And much like lighting technology has developed and refined over the ages, the teachings of Jesus have been applied anew for each generation, to shine light on our path even today, 2000 years later.
One thing is a bit challenging though: light reveals dirt. The new lights in church will no doubt reveal the desperate need for redecorating. The light of Jesus’ teaching illuminates our path, but also reveals what is wrong with our world: the dirt of our racism, greed, injustice, violence.
Ironically, I discovered that the man who built Cragside, William Armstrong, made his fortunes from selling weapons. Some called him the first ‘international arms trader’. You can have all the light bulbs in the world, but still live in darkness!
Let the light shine in the darkness, because the darkness shall not overcome it. (John 1.5)
Love and prayers,
