The First Sunday in Advent -- Isaac Penington


A Reflection on Isaac Penington’s Concerning the Light (pp. 76-77)

“In him was life, and life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not.” John 1:4-5

I tend to be a worrier. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that whatever anxieties I have always seem worse in the middle of the night. Somehow the onset of darkness magnifies the fears and makes them seem larger than life. As I toss and turn in my sleep, I often feel overwhelmed by the weight of the worry. Inevitably, though, dawn comes, and the light of a new day brings these fears back into perspective, making them manageable again. And then I wonder what all the fuss was about.

Strange how that happens. Darkness seems to magnify worry and breed fear; it fuels the imagination, too, conjuring up all manner of demons lurking in the shadows; and, it isolates, making us feel more alone and vulnerable. It is no wonder children are afraid of the dark and that the ghosts and goblins of Halloween all come out after dusk.

The contrast between light and darkness at the center of Isaac Penington’s short meditation is a theological dichotomy as ancient as the Book of Genesis itself. Before God’s act of creation, “darkness was upon the face of the deep” (Gen 1:2), representing chaos, danger, and the unknown. Goodness does not enter the world until God’s creation of light (Gen 1:3). With light comes clarity, truth, and vision.

But then Adam and Eve think they know better, and with the Fall, we find ourselves in darkness once again. Yet, never giving up on us, God persists by seeking to illumine our way in the giving of the Law and the warnings of the Prophets. Even so, we stubbornly cling to the darkness. Only the Light of God becoming human in Jesus, as John so beautifully describes it in his Gospel, is sufficient to dispel the darkness once and for all.

Building upon John’s identification of Jesus with the clarifying Light of God – “the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9) – Penington’s meditation sees Christ’s Light as the only sure and certain guide for a humanity lost in its own darkness. 

Advent of course is a season of darkness, both literally (as the days of December are shorter and shorter) and spiritually (as we await the coming of Christ’s Light to illumine the dark corners of our souls). Pennington invites us during this season of Advent to turn away from those dark places and “to turn to the light, and followeth it. . . .”

As you await the coming of Christ’s Light this year, what darkness in your life do you hope He will dispel? What fears and anxieties loom over you that you hope will vanish with the dawn of His clarifying Light? Where do you see a glimmer of His Light in your life even now?


A 17th century Englishman, Isaac Penington (1616-1679) was a founding member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Noted for his spiritual writings and gentle spirit, Penington was imprisoned more than half a dozen times during his life for his Quaker beliefs and yet remained an eloquent and prolific witness to the faith.

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