February 21, 2012 – Wisdom 17

I think the whole idea of being in darkness is interesting to reflect on.  This whole chapter describes a people that live in darkness.  The Egyptians had their light taken away.  The sun would not shine on them, their lanterns would not light in their homes, all light was taken from them.  They weren’t made blind, but it must have felt very similar because without light, we cannot see the things around us. 

In dealing with a toddler I am getting a better sense of what darkness can do to a person.  It brings about irrational fear.  Any noises that cannot be identified cause fear because of the darkness.  If Paul could see what was making the noise, he would not be afraid, or at least not as afraid.  But in the dark, the wind, the thunder, the loud car driving by, and Paul says he is afraid.  But the fear that comes from being in the dark is irrational.  I try to explain that thunder is a sound and a sound cannot hurt you, but it doesn’t seem to sink in.  Most, maybe all, fear is irrational.  Verse 12 seems to say the same thing.  “For fear is nought but the surrender of the helps that come from reason”.  Fear is what happens when you leave reason behind. 

The following verse I also found very interesting.  I hear a lot about moral relativism and have talked about it here before.  Verse 13 seems to speak on that issue.  When your expectations are not certain, the more you will fear what is coming because you do not have any certainty.  Living in the dark is a good image of moral relativism.  If whatever you feel is right is right, and the person next to you feels whatever they feel is right is right, where is the certainty in what is considered right tomorrow.  Basically there is none.  It is like walking around blind.  You have no idea what will be right or wrong tomorrow because it is based on something that moves and is usually based on the majority or the powerful. 

What scares a moral relativist?  According to this chapter and the analogy, everything.  They do not see anything coming and are living in complete uncertainty, so everything should scare them.  Would you say that people are more confident about life in general today than the used to be or would you say that our world is a world full of fear. 

If you are blind, you live in fear.  Fear is defeated by Light, the Truth.  Those that know the Truth should not fear.  Know that if you are following the Truth, you have nothing to fear, that fear is irrational and against the Truth, and any fear that you do feel is not from the Truth but that which opposes Truth influencing you.  If you have fear, first, you are human.  But try to understand your fear in light of the True Light and trace your fear back to its origins.  Somewhere along the way you diverged from the Truth.  Live in the Truth and you will have no fear because there is no darkness in the Light.