I've Seen the Light

Sometimes, candlepower is what it takes

photo by Pixabay

I first published this one a year ago, just before Christmas. It bears repeating…

I call myself a good Christian, but not a great Christian.  I am, on the one hand, fully behind the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself.  And I’m all in on love they neighbor as thyself.  On the other hand, when it comes to being crucified for someone else’s sins, count me out.  Since I’m not all in on Christianity, I think of myself as a ‘small c’ Christian.

I am also a ‘small s’ scientist.  I spent my first two years of college studying engineering.  Every semester for two years consisted of physics, chemistry, and higher math, with a little bit of English thrown in for laughs.  I know a lot of science, but not enough to elevate me to ‘Big S’. But I knew enough science to qualify me to teach Earth Science to middle schoolers, which I did for six years.

All this, so that I can tell you about an evening, a Christmas Eve, that I remember well.  I don’t remember the exact year; perhaps the middle 1990s. It was the candlelight Christmas Eve service.  These are special services.  Not the usual hymns, not the usual admonitions to live your life as Jesus instructs.  No, we instead sing simple, quiet songs such as Silent Night and Little Town of Bethlehem. And the sermon is about the hope and joy of Jesus’ birth.

And the candlelight.  If you haven’t experienced it, it’s worth going to a candlelight service, even if you aren’t all that religious; even if you aren’t all that Christian.  The service is typical in most Christian churches.  The electric lights are turned down. Everyone has a candle, each one lit from the other until the entire church is lit by the glow of the candles, and we sing Silent Night. There is a soft, quiet beauty rendered by that candlelight that no electric device will ever duplicate.  The congregation sings Silent Night with no accompaniment. Does one need to be a true believer to appreciate that simple beauty?  I think not.

My father was an electrical engineer, and I was going to follow in his footsteps, until I didn’t.  I understand electricity, and the power grid, and light generated from electricity. I know this better than most people.  But I also know that candles have an illumination of their own; they can light up things within us, that no amount of electricity will ever illuminate.

Hold that thought.  Now, let’s consider the minister’s, Reverend Don’s, sermon. Don talked, of course, of the birth in Bethlehem and of the star in the east that led the wise men to Jesus.  How historically accurate is all this?  How much does that matter, by candlelight? Don told us about his son, coming home from school a few days earlier, saying “Dad! Our science teacher told us that they can prove the story of the star in the East.  Astronomers can calculate the orbit of the comets, and they know that there was a comet in the east at that time, just as the Bible says!”  I knew all this.  I had taught it to my own classes.

But Don surprised me.  Rather than use this as verification of the Christmas story, he said that he castigated his son.  WHAT!?, I thought.  Why would he do that?  Here’s why.  Don said that faith in God, faith in the love for each other and for God, as taught by Jesus, is not about science. Facts don’t matter.  Belief is far greater than provable facts.

It was a bit of a jolt to me.  I default to looking for the factual basis for things.  Remember, I’m a scientist, if only a ‘small s’ one. But I could not fail to understand Don’t meaning.  Was the star in the east a comet?  Perhaps.  Does it matter?  No, not a bit. None of that story is meant to convey facts.  The story is not about stars and mangers, or even wise men.  It is about belief and about hope. These cannot be measured, nor evaluated, nor quantified.  Physics, chemistry and math are useless in this regard.

I am the son of an electrical engineer.  I am a ‘small s’ scientist.  I can tell you all about voltage, amperes, ohms, circuits and efficiency of energy conversion, if you care to know.  I am perhaps only a ‘small c’ Christian. But I can tell you that there are things we can see only by candlelight, that no floodlight can illuminate.  There are things that cannot be seen with the eye, but only with the heart. I can tell you that singing Silent Night by candlelight with the other congregants will reveal truths that are not to be found in any scientific journal. And that truth shall set ye free.

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Merry Christmas! It is a greeting appropriate to all, regardless of religion.