Light That’s Indescribable (Lent 23, 2017)

Have you ever been at a loss for words?  Perhaps it was something you saw left you speechless because it was indescribable? 

Maybe it was an event or seeing a place so beautiful that mere words simply couldn’t do it justice.  It takes your breath away.

Maybe it was something so very painful or terrifying that putting words to it would give it a permanence when you’d rather forget. 

Or maybe it was both…something so powerful that no matter how many descriptors you used, it still couldn’t convey what it is you were witnessing. 

* * *

That’s what happened to Ezekiel.  He was minding his own business, and then…

Ezekiel 1:1 In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God….4 I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north– an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, 5 and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings.

Bizarre. So he continues to try to wrap his mind and his language around what he sees.  Light, Fire, Radiance.  Indescribable beauty, so powerful and awesome, he falls facedown.

Ezekiel 1:25 Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. 26 Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. 27 I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

The prophets often searched for words and tried to put language of light around the indescribable they knew only by sight.

Fun Fact of Light:  Dimmers.  Sometimes the light can be too intense so people will want to install dimmer switches which worked fine with old incandescent bulbs, but with new CFL and LEDs, nope.  According to Popular Mechanics  

“The complex circuitry in these new bulbs makes them difficult to dim. In many cases, a typical dimmer switch (now called a legacy dimmer in the electrical industry) won’t work properly, if at all, with CFL or LED bulbs.

Legacy dimmers were designed to work with incandescents, and CFL and LED bulbs bear no electrical resemblance to these types of bulbs. Comparing them is like equating an electric heating element and a television set. Both use electricity and both give off light, but that’s where the similarity ends.”

But according to LEDLights,

“However, one common question is “Do LED lights work with dimmers?” Unfortunately, the answer is yes and no, and the explanation for this is a bit complicated… By reducing voltage to an incandescent bulb, it automatically dims, but LEDs on the other hand, already convert high voltage to low voltage, so reducing the input would have no effect on the light whatsoever. If less power was made available, the lights would simply go out.  So then, do LED lights work with a dimmer? Here’s another complicated answer! Some will, and some won’t!”

Kind of indescribable, I guess! 

For Further Thought:

• How do you deal with things you can’t put words around?
• What do you think of visions from Ezekiel, Daniel, or from Revelation?  What is your reaction to them?
• Do you think God dimmed the glorious reality so that the prophets would be able to search for words?

Thank You, Father, that You are indescribable…that as much as we have the beauty of language and the gift of sight made possible by Your grace…we cannot contain You with mere language.  Thank You for Your Word which reveals glimpses of who You are…in amounts our spiritual sight can discern of Your indescribable nature.  We praise You that You are God, powerful and far beyond our comprehension and yet, You are as approachable as a loving Father and Your Son Jesus who calls us friends. Amen.