On the longest day, a brighter truth appears
The summer solstice is coming up June 21, and I’ve been awaiting it with anticipation for several months now.
It’s not just that it will be the longest day of the year and that it’s the day summer officially begins. It’s also that I want to put images related to it onto my Facebook account. I’ve been saving them up on my computer for weeks now.
So I figured I would give you, my loyal readers, first glance at the thoughts they carry.
Things like: “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness” – John 12:46, obviously a quote from Jesus.
The image that goes with the verse shows a quiet forest path with brilliant rays of sunlight streaming through tall trees and cutting through the shadows. The contrast between the dark woods and the shafts of light creates a peaceful, almost sacred atmosphere, suggesting hope, guidance and illumination breaking into darkness.
Another one: “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” – I John 1:5.
In this image, two tiny figures with fishing poles – in the distance, on a rocky shore – fix their attention on the brightening horizon. Warm shades of pink, orange and purple stretch across the sky and reflect on the calm water – a reminder that much of life is spent looking toward a light we cannot yet fully see.
And the third from this particular collection: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” – John 8:12, also a quotation from Jesus.
Here, light washes over a leafless tree standing in a snowy field, transforming an otherwise stark winter scene into one of beauty and promise. The image suggests that even when life seems dormant, light continues its work, preparing the way for renewal.
Maybe that’s why I saved these particular images instead of the hundreds of others that pass through social media every day. They all tell the same story in different ways.
In one, light breaks through the darkness of the forest. In another, two fishermen stand in shadow while watching the horizon brighten. In the third, a bare tree waits through winter, bathed in light that promises spring.
None of them are complicated. Yet all of them point to a truth that Christians have known for centuries: Light changes things. Jesus is Light. Jesus changes things – if you’ll let him.
I’ve got one final image in this collection. Unlike the others, it isn’t a scene from nature. It’s a city skyline glowing against the night. The accompanying verse is different, too. Jesus no longer says, “I am the light of the world.” Instead, he says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” – Matthew 5:14.
That’s a little more challenging than admiring a sunrise or a shaft of sunlight through the trees.
It’s one thing to appreciate the light. It’s another thing to reflect it.
Perhaps that’s the progression these images have been teaching me all along. The first three pictures are about receiving light. The last one is about giving it away. Maybe that’s why Jesus didn’t stop with “I am the light of the world.” He also challenged his followers to become lights themselves.
Another thought also strikes me as the summer solstice approaches.
The very day that brings the most daylight also marks the point at which daylight begins, ever so slightly, to decrease again. We barely notice it at first. June remains bright. July feels endless. August still stretches long into the evening. Yet the change has begun.
Perhaps that’s one reason we need reminders of a different kind of Light – one that does not wax and wane with the seasons.
————————————————————
Sallie Rose Hollis lives in Ruston and retired from Louisiana Tech as an associate professor of journalism and the assistant director of the News Bureau. She can be contacted at sallierose@mail.com.
For the latest local news, subscribe FOR FREE to the Lincoln Parish Journal and receive an email each weekday morning at 6:55 right to your inbox. Just CLICK HERE to sign up.
