Night and Day

“Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.  God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” Genesis 1: 3b-5~

Evening and morning–the first day. That was how God measured days. We flip it around. In our minds, our days begin with dawn and end with sunset.

In that change, we show our preference for daylight. And we show it in other ways as well. Our brightly lit streets are illuminated to a degree far beyond our need to have a well-lit pathway. Our cities glow and flicker as business interests compete for our attention. We are like moths, and like moths, we find artificial light more attractive than natural light. And the more light we have the more we want–as in addiction.

In The End of Night, Paul Bogard takes a secular look at our desire for more and brighter light.

“As our surroundings grow brighter, we grow used to that level of brightness, and so anything dimmer seems extraordinarily dim, even dark. This is exactly what happened as artificial lighting developed through the ages. The once glorious oil lamps became dim and disgusting with the advent of wonderful gas lighting, which then became smelly and awful and unbearably dim the moment we saw electric light. . . . [O]nce our eyes get used to seeing brighter lights, we must have brighter lights.”

We favor the daylight so much that we miss out on the night–on what God intended for us to get out of the night. Bogard asserts that our sleep problems–insomnia and other sleep disorders–are due to a lack of darkness. Artificial light on our streets and in our houses makes it impossible to achieve the level of darkness that promotes good rest.

But there’s more.

We consider a day as the time we move from light into darkness. God set up a daily system that moves us from darkness into light. There’s a metaphor for redemption in that view.

And as we see God’s glory through his complex and beautiful creation during the day, we see the same at night–if we can still see it in spite of the artificial light that conceals the lights of the sky.

Bogard writes: “[I]n the night skies under which the vast majority of us live, we can often count the stars we see on two hands (in the cities) or four (suburbs), rather than quickly losing count amid the more than twenty-five hundred stars otherwise visible on a clear night.”

Those who stand on the observatory deck of the Empire State Building see one percent of the stars those in Manhatten could see during the 1700s.

Our world is ever brightening 24/7 with artificial light. It obscures the natural beauty God put in place to light our way and show his work.

And sometimes the light that captures us best is the small rectangle right in front of our faces.

I want to be careful to let even the light of my screens to show me his way–his very self.

And I want to take care to look up and remember at least that there is much more there than what my eyes perceive.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1: 1-5~

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28 Replies to “Night and Day”

  1. I needed to read this RIGHT NOW! YES! We are moving toward lightness. Thank you so much! I especially loved this sentence, “God set up a daily system that moves us from darkness into light. There’s a metaphor for redemption in that view.”

    Blessings to you!

  2. So true! Haven’t thought about how much we miss because of artificial light. It not only obscures what would’ve been visible, it also distracts us from other things we may need to see. So thankful God still helps us see when we open the eyes of our hearts.

  3. Great points that I had not considered before on the subject of light and dark. I do love to get out and away from the city so I can see all God’s creations in the skies.

    1. I don’t get to see as much as I’d like here. It’s funny that we look up and assume that’s all there is without realizing there’s more there. We just can’t see it. Thanks and God bless!

  4. I’ve had to read this through a couple times just to really digest it all. There are so many parallels to be drawn between our natural and the supernatural world in regard to this topic of artificial light and natural light. Thank you for this post! It really has me thinking!

  5. Wow Nancy. Just wow! I have literally never heard light explained that way before. Truly goes to show who God is and what His Light really means.

  6. Such a profound little observation. I never noticed the “evening then morning” pattern before. But God is so intentional right? Even with these nuances, moving us from darkness to light. Thanks for the insight.

    One of the things I love most is getting far out from civilization… And especially up to high altitudes to see the magnificent starry night.

    1. Yes, Christina, it’s very hard to see where I live. About an hour’s drive south has a great view. The farther we get from our light–the closer we get to his real light. Thanks and God bless!

  7. I never thought about this before, Nancy. How we prefer the daylight to night and what we may be missing out on. This is interesting, “We favor the daylight so much that we miss out on the night–on what God intended for us to get out of the night.”

    1. Yes, Karen. It’s a good book–even if not written from a Christian perspective. Without realizing it, I’m sure, the author shows God’s glory in nature at night–and how God designed us to thrive with much of the day in darkness. He did not intend for us to live with 24/7 light around us.

  8. Wow, Nancy. Just wow! I have literally never heard light explained that way before. Truly goes to show who God is and what His Light really means. It’s a really amazing post. Thumbs UP!

  9. What a beautiful reminder! It’s so easy to think of light first, rather than lack of light, since light allows us to see. But you’ve made some powerful points here. God started with darkness, and then said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. We live in a large city and seldom can see all the stars unless we go outside the city. It’s always worth it when we go outside the city to stare up at the night sky, looking at the wonders the Lord has made in the cosmos.

    I love this, Nancy: “God set up a daily system that moves us from darkness into light. There’s a metaphor for redemption in that view.” God bless you, sister, for helping us to think this through.

  10. Wow, what a unique perspective on day and night, light and dark. Of all the artificial light we surround ourselves with, the most tragic is the rectangle box. I find it interesting how studies show that the blue light emitted from devices interrupts sleep patterns and rest. Great piece, Nancy!

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