The work being done on light in theology, philosophy, physics, medicine, and near death experiences is directing us to a revolutionary breakthrough in terms of a new model, a new approach to reality. Progress in all of these areas of human curiosity is being driven by brilliant and original insights into the very nature of the foundational stuff of the universe—light—an elusive, pervasive, something or someone.
There is a popular saying in the 21st Century that is sometimes used to describe the attitude of many "modern" persons regarding the Divine Being: "God is missing but not missed." He is an add-on, a self-chosen extra but not essential to our daily lives or thought.
But what if light is indeed the foundational stuff of the universe, as many modern
physicists believe that it is?
What if the entire physical, empirical world of matter, the "without" of things is a basic energy that is light (luminous), which is in constant flux when viewed over a long period of time (duration)? The velocity of atomic movements, their speed, drastically modifies a body's mass. It is only when movements are sufficiently slowed down that they appear to be solid or immobile. All "speed" is referenced to the speed of light, so every body is not only changed by its speed, but it also radiates, that is, it moves like rays...from a center, it emits rays, as of light or heat. (Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man, pp. 54-55, and The Human Phenomenon, p. 23.)
What if undergirding this physical, empirical world of matter both as its source, sustainer, purpose and/or reason for being, is psychic energy, a force that causes things to happen but has no empirically verifiable mass or behavior, so it is not physical but spiritual? The Light that glows can be experienced both within our minds, souls, and hearts. It can be seen in phenomena like near-death experiences.
This ultimate form of energy is "The Light" that has the characteristic of "Supreme Person" and "the personal."
God is in all things by the very fact that the basic or ultimate stuff of the universe is psychic energy (light) and God is, as previously noted, the source of this energy, and is Himself, psychic energy, "The Light", centered in one Divine Being who is three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
But although God is in all things as their source, sustainer, and purpose, all things are not God. For God is transcendent, above all creation. Creation is part of God, but God is not part of creation. God is actuality (there is no potential, no change—no evolution in God), autonomous (dependent on no one or no other thing), and irreversible (again indicates no element of change or disintegration). These are the commonly ascribed attributes of God posited by all the monotheistic (one God) faith traditions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam).
If all of this is true, then far from being an "add-on" or non-essential "extra", God, The
Light, is immanent in all of his creation. We cannot even correctly perceive the physical reality (light) around us without the inner light that God imparts to every human being who is willing to receive it, let alone understand, make sense out of, or give meaning to, what we see.