Into the Light

I spent most of last week battling a headache. We were leading worship for students at a youth camp in Florida. The schedule was relaxed and the weather was perfect but I squinted my way through a week-long melon-thumper. The problem was the sun. The wide open skies of the Florida Gulf coast reflect off of the powdery white sand in a deadly combination for unshaded eyes. If you stare into the light you will see nothing. Instead the goal in that kind of bright-wash is to keep your eyes down and focus on the stuff the light is illuminating.

As a songwriter I have stared into the light of God’s glory for years now seeking fresh and cathartic ways to describe what I see. The problem of course is that what I see staring into the glory of God is most often blinded and blurry. To try and describe glory is to kill its mystery. The adjectives I use only seem to dim God’s radiance. I am, however surrounded by the stuff that God’s glory is illuminating.

In music (like in no other area I know) we as consumers have created categories like sacred and secular, Christian and mainstream. As a songwriter I find it difficult to make that distinction. What I see when I look around me for something to write about is the glory of God. Sometimes I try and stare into it to describe what I see. Other times I look around to see what God’s glory is illuminating. Where is glory being reflected? Sometimes those colors seem more vivid and the images more visceral simply because these eyes of mine weren’t built to see what’s real beyond all of this. At least not yet. “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.” 1 Cor 13:12.

Staring into the light isn’t always helpful but if you look around you, surely you will see what the light is illuminating. Look around, where do you see the glory of God reflected around you? Share your reflections with us as a comment!