Too Much Light

One troubling aspect of comparing spiritual light to normal light is that it's totally possible to have too much normal light.For example, if I stay out in the sun too long, I'm bound to get a sunburn. As a result, I try to spend most of my time indoors, which only increases my sensitivity to sunlight. However, there is a safe way to build a resistance to the sun's painful effects, and there's a way to interpret this "spiritual light" analogy that makes it clear that spiritual light isn't necessarily dangerous, just painful.

Spiritual light can be painful because God, in His desire to help us improve, often uses spiritual light to reveal our weaknesses. It's painful to acknowledge our weaknesses, and it's even more painful to try to overcome them. Some people try to spare themselves this pain by remaining in the darkness, but that makes them even more vulnerable to spiritual light, including the Light of Christ, which is in everyone. The longer one stays in darkness, the more they are pained by their own conscience, even without exposure to the harsh glare of gospel light.

Yet, exposure to that light can be a part of the solution. I've heard that, given the right amount of sunlight, people can become tan, which lowers their sensitivity to sunlight. In our analogy, this means spending time in the light of the gospel despite knowing that God will help us identify our faults. If we discover, acknowledge, and overcome our faults, that searing light will burn us less and less. Of course, it will always hurt a little bit, since we will always have areas fit for improvement, but if we keep improving, we can eventually reach the point where spiritual light doesn't burn us at all.

Of course, that doesn't mean that we should recklessly expose ourselves to as much light as possible, trusting that we'll gain a resistance to it. Getting too much exposure to light too quickly can give people painful sunburns and can turn them off from the idea of enjoying sunlight altogether. Instead, gradual exposure to light may be wiser. We can use gentle approaches, like daily scripture study and weekly church worship, to help us identify weaknesses and gradually overcome them. As we do, our regular exposure to spiritual light can help prepare us to be constantly in the presence of God's light. Normally, that level of scrutiny would be unbearable, but if we properly prepare for it, we can eventually grow pure enough to endure any amount of spiritual life.

We are nowhere near perfect, and as long as we're imperfect, spiritual light will always hurt us at least a little. We need to make sure that pain doesn't grow too great for us to endure. Instead, we should purify ourselves through regular exposure to light so we can grow comfortable even in the brightest spiritual light. As we are right now, we probably can't handle too much exposure to spiritual light, but if we expose ourselves to as much light as we can endure, we will eventually reach the point where there will be no such thing as too much spiritual light.