We are living the life of a fumbling blind man if we do not correctly see reality as it is. Clear vision, physically, is not only a matter of seeing hues - it is the intensity of those hues; their forms; their size as well as shape; their proportion to and distance from one another; etc. And interestingly, we see clearly in proportion to the amount of light shed on these things (by the sun); in the same way, we can only properly see and know reality if we are looking at it under the light of God.
And, just as the sun is always shining, but its light can be obstructed by objects such as clouds, or by a complete turning away (as the surface of the earth at nighttime), we can also obstruct with our will or intellect (believing in untruths, focusing on darkness/evil rather than goodness) both the light of the sun itself, and dim our view/understanding of those things upon which it sheds its light.
And not only does the world become more visible and plain to see underneath the light of the sun, but the brilliancy of its hues, in its clarity, become all the more beautiful. They even sparkle, reflecting in part the very brilliancy of the light of the sun. Just so does an object created by God, when exposed to the full light of the sun (uncovered in its full reality) and receptive to God, sparkle in the beauty of its God-made goodness - or, in the case of human beings, when the soul does not obstruct His light with sin, sparkle with the beauty of virtue.
What does this mean for us, practically in our day to day life, and for our final mission?
If we are to understand anything about reality and life - philosophy, spirituality, psychology, relationships, even science, mathematics, and the most practical areas of life - we must see them in the light of God’s truth, His design for them. Anytime we try to leave God out of the equation (a modernist endeavor), we forgo clear vision - in fact, we are opting to fumble around in the dark.
Not only that, but we will not be properly seeing the beauty of the given created thing or virtue. Thus, even human life becomes easily devalued, leading to the grave evils of abortion and euthanasia, or the lesser, but very common evils of varying degrees of neglect, indifference, coldness, etc.
When we look at others in the light of God, how beautiful they become! Their dignity and natural virtue comes into focus - or, if sin has greatly clouded it, we see the beauty of soul they were naturally endowed with - for no baby is born evil. We see their vulnerabilities. We see the love God has for their soul.
And, we ourselves, to the extent that we obstruct God’s will with our own - with sin - cloud our souls, disfiguring and discoloring the beauty of innocence.
If we choose to turn away from God, or to focus on other things, can we expect anything other than darkness in our soul? Can we expect anything other than blindness or poor vision, with regard to our understanding of anything in the world?
Let us embrace true Enlightenment. Let us reject the ways of the Modernist intellect, who in his pride wishes to divorce all thought from his very Creator. It is the worst of stupidities, because it chooses its own blindness. It leads to boredom, indifference, apathy, nihilism and despair - not because it has “seen the light,” but because it has shunned it!
Beauty, adventure and romance - these come from opening up one’s eyes and one’s soul to the light. If created things can be so radiant and beautiful…. Than can we even begin to imagine how beautiful God must be?
