(Featured Image: “Afternoon Light, Georgia Hay Field” – by Mark Hillis – Oil on Canvas, 16″ x 20″)
Summer Memories of Farm Life
Growing up on the farm, Summer was the season I waited for. As soon as school was dismissed for the Summer, my shoes came off…except for Sunday morning church services. I can still remember the feeling of the hot sand between my toes as I explored the countryside; or the coolness of the grass in the morning when the dew was still clinging to each blade.
I can also remember the fresh cut hay being baled and loaded up to be stored for later use as cattle food. And I can remember the big old shelter where it was stored, and where we made our fortresses out of square hay bales…great for construction until my grandfather switched to the giant round bales. It was hot and it was humid, but it was childhood, and it was glorious.
The Artist’s Understanding of Light
There’s something special about late afternoon. The sun is still brilliant, and the shadows are long and dramatic. As my love for art grew and my experience of painting progressed, I began to understand the value of light. I should say I began to understand that Light is everything. Without light there is no form, no shape, no shading or shadowing of objects. Without light all you have is darkness. In painting you have just grey and dull art until you light up an area and create form through shadows. Of course in art rules can always be broken…Monet painted scenes where nature is enshrouded in fog, so light is spread abroad and there are no sharp shadows. He painted subtle works where color had become everything, and these are some of my favorite paintings. But he first mastered light and dark. He first mastered the use of shadow and light.
Rembrandt was a master of light. So many of his paintings depict a figure against a dark background. The person portrayed is radiant with light, creating a sense of drama and suspense. Turner’s groundbreaking paintings are filled with light in the form of majestic, tumultuous waves and skies that are like symphonies. Skies are only glorious because of light. Light is everything.
If you are a painter, you are not just depicting the details of a scene. You are not even making an exact representation of what is before you. You are arranging, interpreting, manipulating and shaping a reality by learning to portray light…even to change it, or move it around and make it more brilliant by surrounding it with darkness. Artists do not merely depict what they see…they interpret the thing before them and create a version of it that is consistent with their inner vision.
Light as Divine Revelation
For Believers also, LIGHT IS EVERYTHING. In the Bible, light speaks not only of truth, but of the revelation of things not known or things not seen. You and I need the revelation of Christ to our spirit in all circumstances. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Over and over He revealed Himself and His Word as Light…light that has shone in the darkness, light that cannot be extinguished.
All of this may sound like flowery, religious talk, but it has everything to do with how we live our lives. For the believer, LIGHT IS EVERYTHING!
When you are depressed, angry, sad, confused or just plain lost, you need light. You need revelation. That word, revelation, literally means “to reveal”, to “take the lid off”. You need the Holy Spirit to take the lid off and reveal to you the next move. You need revelation of the will of God.
When you are spiritually thirsty, there is darkness…and you need LIGHT
When you need direction because you have come to a fork in the road…all is dark…and YOU NEED LIGHT!
Every venture, every adventure, every battle, every sickness, every great disappointment, every satanic attack on the mind, and every storm in life requires new LIGHT for the current challenge. To walk as an overcomer means that we receive LIGHT from the Lord, especially through His Word. We do not have what we need if we do not have LIGHT. LIGHT means having His Word on the subject at hand. When you know that He has spoken…when you know that He has given light, you can rise up in faith and withstand anything. You can face despair and disappointment with grace and strength that is not your own.
Humanism says that man is sufficient in himself. Look around and you will see that this philosophy only produces darkness and destruction. But Light (spiritual light from Jesus, the Light of the World) produces the good foundation that is needed to build upon in this life. Blessings come from the light of revelation. Let LIGHT be your goal today. Let there be a hunger and thirst for LIGHT from the Lord.
LIGHT IS EVERYTHING.
Blessings,
Mark