Tag: RS thomas

A reflection at Eventide – February 2025
Revd Clare Hayns

John 1. 1-7
The Bright Field by RS Thomas

I’d like to tell a little story as we think about the light in the darkness.

When my son Simeon was 15 years old my sister took him and his younger cousins on a challenge. They set out to walk the three peaks of the British Isles within 24 hours. Ben Nevis (Scotland), Scarfell Pike (Lakes), Snowdon (Wales). In order to do this in the time, one mountain – Scarfell Pike – has to be scaled at night-time. They set off but at some point got disorientated. They were near the top on a section with small hills on top of which were piles of stones (cairns). But to the side was a steep drop, so they needed to follow the course of the hills and the stones.

But it was really dark, and they couldn’t make out their steps to stop tripping or going off course. So, they came up with a plan. Simeon offered to go on ahead of them to the top of the next hill. And he stood by the cairn and shone his torch back towards the rest of the group, and they all then made their way safely (they also made it with 15mins to spare!)

I remembered this because we’ve been thinking about light and darkness throughout this Eventide season. Last month we turned off all the lights in church and reflected on what was dark and difficult, confusing and disorientating.

Much of life can seem like stumbling along a hillside in the dark wondering what on earth it’s all about, and not quite sure of the way ahead, or why we’re here, or where we’re heading.

 John’s gospel begins in a way which mirrors the creation story of Genesis.  Which begins with darkness, formlessness, and void:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Genesis 1. 1-3

And John’s gospel begins:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1. 1-5

This is a profound theological statement. That Christ was there right at the beginning of all things, when light was created out of darkness. And that this light was now to be seen in the person of Jesus who was born as a child in Bethlehem, and that through his spirit, each of us is given that same light.

You may have read Richard Rohr, if not, I encourage you to. I heard him speak at Greenbelt once and he told us that Christ is not Jesus’ last name, not his surname! It is a description who he is. Which is why in John’s gospel we get these ‘I am’ statements, which seem almost boastful.

Jesus says, ‘I am the Light of the world’. Remember, light is not so much what you directly see as that by which you see everything else.

Simeon’s light enabled the hikers to see everything clearly. One of the challenges of the Christian life is to learn to see as God sees. In other words, we have faith in Christ so we can have the faith of Christ. That is the goal.

So often what we first see as disaster can turn out to be an opportunity.
What once seems darkness, turns out to have a crack of light as Leonard Cohen sings in Anthem (“there’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in”)
What seems to be death, turns out to be life.

Contemplation is one of the ways we can align ourselves more closely with Jesus so that we can learn to see.

Richard Rohr says: “Most people do not see things as they are because they see things as they are, which is not to see at all”. And he says: “We need to look at Jesus until we can look out at the world with his kind of eyes”[1]

I will end with the words of the beautiful poem The Bright Field by RS Thomas  which invites us to stop hurrying, to turn aside, to look towards the light which will stop us from stumbling in the darkness. This light is revealed to us most gloriously through Jesus, the light of the world:

Life is not hurrying
on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.
RS Thomas, A Bright Field