The Colour of Love

Anyone who has seen light shining through a glass prism in their physics class will know that white light is actually composed of a number of different coloured lights mixed together. The same effect can be seen in a rainbow, where the sun shines through droplets of water, refracting the light and separating the colours due to their different wavelengths.

Another way to isolate a particular coloured light is to see it reflected off a coloured surface. We look at a red ball on the table, but how do we know that it is red? It is illuminated with white light, yet we see red light reflected back to us, and recognise the colour that we call red. This is because the pigments in the coating of the ball absorb all of the other colours trapped within the white light, and only reflect the light with the red wavelength back to us.

A room with walls painted red has a greater effect. Only red light is reflected back to us, and if we attempt to view a green object whilst in a red room, it will appear black, as there is no light with a green wavelength for it to reflect. Similarly, if we try and view a green object in the light from a red light-bulb, the same thing happens.

I was considering these points the other day, and suddenly realised the parallels with religion. Each of the organised religions in the world can be thought of as a different colour. God's love, which shines down on the world, is white. The love he gives knows no religion - it is there for all. Yet when it shines on the Christian, Muslim, or Jew; on the Hindu, Sikh, or Zoroastrian, the white light that they are shown is split. Their own colour is reflected back to the world in their sacred texts, ritual, or evangelising, whilst the other colours are discarded. The words of the other religions have little value in their eyes.

Is this a good thing? Red light is certainly valuable when we wish to see a red object, but it doesn't provide any illumination for items that are green or blue. If we view the world through only red, or green, or blue light, many objects appear black, or disappear altogether, and the view we are left with can never be described as balanced or complete. Similarly, if one colour dominates the view, even though other coloured lights may be present, the view we see of the world is tinted, and the objects in it are falsely represented. "La vie en rose" may appear attractive at a first glance, but a moment's thought soon reveals its trickery.

The same is true with the world's religions. Each has its merits, and forms a path of great importance for its adherents. They are pleased to share the truth, as they see it, and point out the many benefits to the peoples of other faiths, or none at all. But if one faith is allowed to dominate, the view that the world sees is not balanced, but tainted. The problems of the world, of which there are many, cannot be clearly thought about without the accumulated wisdom of all men.

All religions in the world are important, and the wise man will look for the words of truth to be found in each of them. Each faith has ideas that, when combined together, provide us with a true light, a white light, to illuminate our way through the obstacles of life. The light that comes from a balanced combination of the many truths is a light that is closest to the love from God that he originally intended we should see.

Tim Makins
November 2006

(This article was also published in 'The Friend', a UK-based Quaker magazine.)