An encounter with radiance suggests astonishing energy at work, known or unknown, at times, often tinged with a pinkish glow. In that split second, the psyche shimmers, stretches beyond the familiar, and gapes in wonder—Even longs for permanence. We’ve been touched and we know it. With its diminishment, its dark mantle plunges us into darkness. The void aches. We shiver and continue waiting for what we know not.

Many equate such experiences with the revelation of God, the dynamic firing of His creation from its beginning as recorded in the bible. Seventeen times, the word radiance is used for God: His felt presence experienced in the Old and New Testaments’ accounts of the Jerusalem Temple and the Temple in the book of Revelation. 

Another reference to the word radiance appears in the book of Baruch, this time, superimposed upon the Mosaic Law from which Israel had strayed: the source of their holiness. Preferring idolatry to observance of the law, Babylonians had destroyed their Temple and enslaved them in 582 BCE. 

Turn back…in her radiance, make your way to the light. (4:12)

The imperative is just as critical as then—which ever spiritual path embraced, in or outside of religion or scripture study: Humility and service of God, self, and others keep us moving toward the light. Within the light, expect experiences of radiance. In silence and lowliness of heart, they do come until embraced by Eternal Light.