Light and life belong together.
This is true in the very earliest proclamations of the early Church: “In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind…The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. (John 1. 4, 9).
Interestingly enough, it is also true in science.
Recently, researchers from the University of Calgary and the National Research Council in Canada captured on record evidence in humans of what is called Ultraweak Photon Emission (UPE), which refers to the extremely faint bio-chemical light produced by all living things. This light is, of course, not visible to human eyes. When we speak of someone “glowing,” either we are speaking metaphorically in compliment of that person or we should be advising them to seek medical attention ASAP (my son once bit into a glowstick and got it all over him–so I know this for real)! But while this glow light is at a minimum a thousand times darker than the visible eye can perceive, it can be picked up by physical instruments that can detect different wavelengths and frequencies of light!
Importantly, this light ceases to exist after a person passes away.
While the reality of bioluminescence is fascinating in and of itself, it is made even more fascinating by another recent scientific discovery that one of Assurance’s nurses shared with folks at our recent LoveWalk: a brief flash of light occurs at the moment of conception. According to those who discovered this phenomenon, when a human egg is fertilized zinc is released so rapidly that there is a microscopic flash of light! Again, only detectable with scientific instruments. But it is there!
I am a bit of a nerd and find the scientific underpinnings and mechanisms of these two scenarios fascinating. I’ll leave it to you to dig into that if you like. There are, of course, strong biological reasons for the emissions of light at both the stage of conception and throughout one’s life. But as a believer, I am equally in awe about the potential theological and anthropological (that is, “what it means to be human”) implication of these two studies: life means light. 
Ephesians 2.10 states that “We are God’s handiwork” and Psalm 19.1 speaks of creation declaring the glory of God.” Colossians 1.16 tells us that God is the God of all things, visible and invisible (i.e. all the things we cannot see with our naked eye but are, nevertheless, real!). The fact is our modern science is just catching up with some of the mysteries that have been part of God’s working order since He first breathed life (and light) into being at the dawn of Creation!
At Assurance, we hold fast to what can feel like an eroding social value, despite the fact that it too is confirmed by science: life begins at the moment God creates a distinct, unique, human being. And now we know, so does the light that will journey with that distinct, unique, human being throughout his or her life! When we allow that life to emerge, so does its light. When we terminate that life, the world gets just a little bit darker: we may not always be able to see it, but it is true nevertheless.
As I write, I am reminded that our day to day hope is that while the physical light perseveres throughout the life of the pre-natal child and the sacred individual who carries that child, we also hope that the Light which gives light to both those persons is allowed in so that He can do His work in casting out the darkness. As John 1.5 says, “The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.” And as the famous Swiss theologian Karl Barth once said, “The true light of the world shines already in the darkness of the mother’s womb.” This, we know now, is not just a metaphorical or spiritual statement. It is a scientific one.
