Illuminating

In Genesis 1 verse 3 God said ‘ Let there be light ‘. He may not have reckoned that mankind post Faraday would add to His illumination. Now Scientist Johan Eklof in his book The Darkness Manifesto ‘ explains that ever increasing illuminations are a bigger threat to insects and animals than climate change.

Essentially the lights are killing the insects and migrating birds can’t find their way because of the absence of real darkness. Many are afraid of the dark but we need including the animals and insects darkness as it’s absence affects hormones and sleep. Excessive illumination is impacting our wildlife and biodiversity. The advance of low cost LED lighting is killing and as we approach Christmas according to economist Martin Lewis the lighting of the Christmas tree is 18pence per day.

Our car windscreens have noticeably less insect splattering than before and the poor insects are dying off which in turn affects the whole food chain. Bats, moths , hedgehogs and turtles are all suffering. The Dark Skies Movement of the 1980s originally expressed these concerns and now 40 years on we are in crisis it seems. The presence of silence is not the absence of sound and the presence of dark is not the absence of light. We need the dark but we are getting less of it. Try sleeping in a completely dark room tonight and see the better sleep you get for example.

Meantime in this season of Advent I recall the words of Jesus in John 8 verse 12 when He said ‘ I am the Light of the World ‘ depicted in the 1853 painting of Holman Hunt of that name. This light won’t kill you or any insect or migrating bird it is a light that is worth switching on and it doesn’t even cost 18 pence to do so.

There is of course another Darkness Manifesto prepared by that Devil out there whose mission is to seek out kill and destroy everything. That one doesn’t have horns and pitchfork but often works deviously through other people and events and is out to take you on the ruinous road. We needn’t be afraid of course because we have help and as He also told us if we seek Him we will find him.

Anyway I wanted to shed some light on all this ( pun intended ) and not wanting to leave you in the dark ( pun intended) . Take care of yourselves and switch off that light if you don’t need it. Have a good weekend.