"The Power of Light"

I just read this AMAZING Research Article in the National Geographic from the October 2001 issue. It's called, "The Power of Light" by Joel Achenbach. I'll just share a few really good sections I found in it, and some thoughts. But really, Light is so connected to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ himself, I couldn't help but think of Spiritual associations the whole time I was reading it.

"Light reveals the world to us. Body and soul crave it. Light sets our biological clocks. It triggers in our brains the sensations of color. Light feeds us, supplying the energy for plants to grow. It inspires us with special effects like rainbows and sunsets. Light gives us life-changing tools, from incandescent bulbs to lasers and fiber optics. Scientists don't fully understand what light is or what it can do. They just know that it will illuminate our future."

--This passage is the introduction to the article and I immediately got out a Highlighter ans blocked it off. So much truth comes from it. "Scientists don't fully understand what light is or what it can do." Even the greatest minds can't comprehend all of the properties of light.

"The more you look at the topic, the more you realize that our lives are built around light, that our daily existence is continually shaped- and made vivid- by that ambiguous stuff that dates from the beginning of time. From our technology to our spirituality, we are creatures of light."

-- BAM! Did you just read that last line? "From our technology to our spirituality, we are creatures of light." How true is that?! We thrive on light to supply us with vision and sustenance. Our spirits require light so we can understand the hidden mysteries of God.

"Here we come to one f act of the miracle of light. It has no volume. And photons have no charge so in the process of being concentrated into a very small space, they don't repulse each other as negatively charged electrons do. How many angels of light can dance on the head of a pin? In theory an infinite number."

-- Obviously we know there are many particles of light. Just as there are many creatures of light, known as God's children on this Earth. We can all coexist on this planet with our various backgrounds and customs and it's beautiful.

"But he [Empedocles] also subscribed to the notion of the "fire within the eye," comparing the eyes to lanterns. Many Greeks, including Plato and Euclid, shared this belief that the eyes produce some kind of visual ray."

-- Even though it was proven that our eyes do not emit wavelengths of light, I truly do believe our eyes emit light. A different kind of light. Spiritual light. There is a story that is often repeated in the Church that speaks of BYU Students at the Jerusalem Center and how "they have a light in their eyes..." When we are filled with the Holy Ghost and are doing our best to obey God's commandments, we radiate the pure love of Christ.

"Newton demonstrated that white light is composed of all the colors of the spectrum. Using a prism, he broke sunlight into a rainbow, then later used a second prism to cohere the colors back into white light."

Spoken by Newton: "Whatever light be, I would suppose, it consists of Successive Rays differing from one another in contingent circumstances, as bigness, forms, or Vigour, like as the Sands on the Shoar, the Waves of the Sea, the faces of men, and all other natural things."
"Newton believed that light was particulate -"multitudes of unimaginable small and swift Corpuscles of various Sizes, Springing from Shining bodies at great distances one after another."

-- Everything Newton said reminded me of the soul of man.

"At the speed of light itself, time stops."
"But if you could be the light itself- if you could be the photon- you'd experience no time. That long journey would be instantaneous."

-- So does that mean there is a place where time does not exist? Does omniscience and omnipresence of God derive from light? So is light a property of our souls? Of course we know that when we are crowned with glory after the Resurrection and Judgment, our glories will be manifest by the amount of light given off from our bodies. It is also mentioned that when Christ descends to the Earth, an immense amount of heat is felt with the coming of His Glory.

George Gilder, a conservative political theorist, now technological guru stated," I believe that light was made by God for communications."

"Light permeates our reality at every scale of existence."

I testify to you, that I know that God lives. I know that Jesus Christ is His Son. I know that when we follow God's commandments and keep our lives in sync with God's will, he will bless us.
I know that all truth and light emanates from Christ's presence. I know with all of my heart that the True Gospel of Jesus Christ is Restored. I know that our lives are eternal. If we prove ourselves faithful we will be witnesses of the "Power of Light". I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.