Light Pollution
So from the title, you can probably guess where the inspiration for this post probably came from. I’ve been reading about light pollution lately. How artificial lights are polluting the night sky, making us lose the privilege of a clear, dark sky. We are no longer able to live in real darkness, which disturbs some people’s sleep, especially the lighter sleepers. Even in Malaysia, light pollution is pretty bad. I’m sure if you look out of your house window tonight, you will see at least one streetlight outside your house, or further down the road/path, if you live in an urban area. If you live in rural areas, you are blessed with clear night skies, prefect for stargazing, something which urban kids and fans aren’t able to do most of the time, Malaysian weather not considered. So there’s one advantage or benefit for living in the rural areas. Anyway, I digress.
One article says that most of urban inhabitants can no longer see the Milky Way galaxy. It also speaks of how the skies above cities seem to be devoid of stars, “leaving behind a vacant haze that mirrors our fear of the dark and resembles the urban glow of dystopian science fiction.” But what it goes on to say is also interesting. To quote, it said,
And yet above the city’s pale ceiling lies the rest of the universe, utterly undiminished by the light we waste-bright shoal of stars and planets and galaxies, shining in seemingly infinite darkness.
Interesting, isn't it? Seems the universe goes on as is, the celestial bodies continuing to shine as they have, regardless of what we have done down on Earth. Our own doing only depriving us of seeing them. Our own doing only affecting us, and not the stars, planets and galaxies, and their ability to shine. They still shine, only obscured by our own doing. They shine, regardless of the fact that our pollution is stopping us from seeing them. Light pollution has caused us to lose touch (or more correctly, sight) of these magnificent things. They’re still there, only we cannot see them.
While I was reading the article, and reflecting a bit, something hit me. This thing can also reflect on our lives and relationship with God actually. God is like those stars, planets and galaxies. He always was there, and still is there over us, looking over us, waiting for us to reach out to Him. He is there, regardless if we acknowledge His existence and power over our lives or not. Light pollution is like our activities, sin, etc. Things we do that is causing us to lose sight of Him, or blurring our view of Him.
You see, most of the time it is the things we do that causes us to not be able to see God, to lose out connection with Him. Sometimes very directly, like sin. Or other times indirectly. For instance, getting to caught up with activities that we become too busy to have time to look up, and seek God. A lot of times, it is not that God doesn’t want to see us, or that the Devil is working extra hard and deliberately blocking our view of God. It is us ourselves, that is stopping us from seeing God.
So, have you looked up at God today? What are you doing, to reduce the “light pollution” in your life that is stopping you from seeing “the Light of the world” (John 8:12)?
Quotes from the National Geographic article, Light Pollution, by Verlyn Klinkenborg, Nov 2008, unless otherwise referenced.
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