Article February 25, 2013 Issue

The light that brings freedom

Michel Bobillier

Originally written in French and published in the January 2013 French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish editions of The Herald of Christian Science.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation so bleak that it darkens your days? It is well known that when things take a bad turn, we feel that we’re surrounded by obscurity. But when things get better, it is also well known that we feel that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

It is so natural to desire bright days, a bright existence, filled with the light of joy, love, and health. “Light” is indeed an element that is often mentioned in the Bible. As a matter of fact, God’s first words are: “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). And the Bible says that indeed “there was light,” illumining the universe.

Now, what light are we talking about? What is its origin and nature? Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, helps us understand something essential on this subject when she writes: “This light is not from the sun nor from volcanic flames, but it is the revelation of Truth and of spiritual ideas. This also shows that there is no place where God’s light is not seen, since Truth, Life, and Love fill immensity and are ever-present” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 504). Understood as such, light is not a physical element, like the sunlight or the light from another source, but a concept, an infinite idea. All the work of God—the creation as presented in the first chapter of Genesis—is manifested in light. There are no shadows, darkness, confusion, troubles. All is clarity, harmony, purity, holiness, beauty.