Chesterton and the Lamp

I thought that for my first post, I should explain the quote I have on my page and why I named my blog after it. The full quote from Chesterton is as follows:

“Suppose that a great commotion arises in the street about something, let us say a lamp-post, which many influential persons desire to pull down. A grey-clad monk, who is the spirit of the Middle Ages, is approached upon the matter, and begins to say, in the arid manner of the Schoolmen, "Let us first of all consider, my brethren, the value of Light. If Light be in itself good--" At this point he is somewhat excusably knocked down. All the people make a rush for the lamp-post, the lamp-post is down in ten minutes, and they go about congratulating each other on their unmediaeval practicality. But as things go on they do not work out so easily. Some people have pulled the lamp-post down because they wanted the electric light; some because they wanted old iron; some because they wanted darkness, because their deeds were evil. Some thought it not enough of a lamp-post, some too much; some acted because they wanted to smash municipal machinery; some because they wanted to smash something. And there is war in the night, no man knowing whom he strikes. So, gradually and inevitably, to-day, to-morrow, or the next day, there comes back the conviction that the monk was right after all, and that all depends on what is the philosophy of Light. Only what we might have discussed under the gas-lamp, we now must discuss in the dark.”

This is from his book “Heretics” which is very good and I would totally recommend that you read it, as you should his other books as well. He may have been a Roman Catholic, but he was a very clever and almost prophetic writer. He published Heretics in 1905, 120 years ago, and yet that paragraph could have been written a week ago.

I love this quote. It shows the awareness that Chesterton had of the impulses of human nature and society. The same forces and impulses are shaping our society today. We have dry and overly academic monks, and crowds of people aiming to tear down traditions, no matter what they are or why they exist, simply because they are traditions. And the people who make up the crowds don’t even agree on why they ought to be tearing down the lamps. Some don’t hate lamps, they just want a different kind of lamp. Others do hate lamps. But they are united in the fact that they both don’t want this lamp. This lamp needs to go.

And so we tear it down. I say “we” because we have all been a part of this crowd before. Something in us kicks against the light and so we want it gone, for one reason or another. We want to hide ourselves, we want to feel like we’re a part of something bigger than us, to feel justified, vindicated in our vandalism of the lamps. And we succeed, at least for a time. The lamp really does fall. We really are left in the dark. We abandon a source of truth, a solid rock to build on. And eventually, a lot of people start to get nervous. Scared of the dark. Scared of what the implications of no lamps are.

This is what I want to do here, in my own small little way. Those who are scared, anxious, lost in the dark… come to the Light. My aim here is to hold up a light; to examine history, society, politics, and anything else under the Lamp of Scripture, and ultimately under the Light Himself, Jesus. If you are lost in the dark, there is good news. You can always come back to the lamp. We did indeed tear it down. We nailed Him to a tree and murdered Him. But He came back. He is alive. And He welcomes whoever comes to Him. You don’t have to stand in the dark any longer. The Lamp, the Light, Jesus, is waiting for you.