'A light for the revelation to the Gentiles...' says the old man Simeon as he holds the infant Christ in his arms. These words form part of the prayer we call the Nunc Dimittis - which is said at Evensong, Compline and occasionally at funerals.
To receive light means to be 'enlightened.' Sometimes this used to mean that someone is civilised or very clever. It is even used to put down more ancient philosophies or beliefs, grouping them all as superstitious. One of those ancient philosophies was alchemy. On the surface this practice could be labelled as mumbo-jumbo. It was never chemically possible to turn base materials into gold and likewise there as yet has been no miracle potion for immortality. But somehow on the way the anicents learnt something about how we change or to use a more appropriate word 'convert.' Alchemy's strength is not in the mechanisms of how we change materials in gold but how we change hearts.
The theory about making gold was called the transmutation process. It had three steps; blackening, whitening, and redenning. The life application as been to describe this as purification, enlightenment and union. Many spiritual courses, books, and even films take us through those three steps. Indeed, the AA Twelve Steps Programme has been seen to have three sections of four which model this. For instance, members begin by admitting that one cannot control one's addiction or compulsion and then move on by recognizing a higher power that can give strength. It takes an enormous courage just to make those first two initial steps, many people have to be at the very lowest point.
In the same way our liturgies normally begin with the penitential rite, inviting us to remember that we measure goodness not by some national mean but by Christ himself. Fundamentally we stand before the foot of the cross with empty pockets. Like that base material the intial heat covers us in blackness. I think its fair to say that in Christian spirituality there can be little enlightenment of any use unless we first are ready to be purified. Its easy to think we can skip the initial difficult bit and download some enlightenment. Enlightenment for the Christian means receiving the Christ the Light of the World, the light to enlighten the nations. I believe that it also means that we come to understand that there is such a thing, to quote Paul, as the mind of Christ. That God has a purpose for each of us and that although there may be individual choice, there is a greater truth which overarches everything.
What is the point of any journey? Surely it is the destination. Likewise the goal of any religion is union. It is all too easy to be fobbed off with the idea that the Christian is simply about making people believe this or that. For us as Christians that union is with the Triunion God. Our faith is at its heart, a person, Jesus Christ. As we enjoy union, we realise that this union has come through, been mediated, via a communion, ie. the Church itself, his body.
