“I am the light of the world…” John 8:12
June 19, 2023 - When I bought my first “good camera” in 1975, I soon saw I’d have to learn some things to use it. When I asked Photographer Ron Newton what book I should read to get started, I was a bit puzzled when he said, “Get a good book on ‘Light.’” Figuring a book like that would only slow me down, I ignored his suggestion and it was a decision I would live to regret.
The word “photography” comes from two Greek words: “Photos” (light), and “grapho” (to write) so it’s literal meaning is “to write with light.” Light comes through the lens, and is transferred past a reflex mirror to the film. When the light hits the layers of silver halide crystals on the film, an image is formed. Knowing how to use light is what photography is all about.
When I was converted to Christ in 1948, Evangelist Bob Jacobs handed me a Bible and told me to start reading it. It was God’s Book on Light. I eagerly read it for a while but later started depending on the preachers to explain the Book instead of reading it for myself. I was slow to realize that learning about the Light of the World is what Christianity is all about.
A lot of us live dull, colorless lives even though we attend church and walk upright. And a library full of devotional books on “How-to Live The Christian Life” can never teach us what we need most to know.
That will only come from reading God’s Book on Light!!
