We hear a lot of people talking as if the world were all gray, no discernible differences between right and wrong, normal and abnormal, or even animal and man. Gray represents a mixture of black and white, so when you say the world is gray you are just acknowledging the fact that it is frequently difficult to discern between the two. Our culture, however, treats this “gray” mixture as if it were a primary color.

God established a standard at the beginning, the knowledge of good and evil, white and black if you will. Once Adam and Eve partook of the fruit they blurred the lines between the two and were plunged into the drab grayness of the Fall. Sadly, without the Light, we continue to stumble blindly through the wilderness. We occasionally have moments of clarity, but all too frequently feel as if we are looking through a glass darkly.

Why is it that we have categories for color photography, black and white photography, but not gray photography? We humans seem to find contrast aesthetically appealing. The vast majority of our lives are spent making black and white decisions. It is only when we want to hide our questionable behavior from the light of accountability that we make our way into the foggy gray valley of despair.

In the Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis tells the story of a busload of people travelling from hell to heaven. He calls hell, “grey town,” and describes it as a place shrouded in perpetual twilight grayness where the inhabitants fearfully await the forbidding blackness of the coming night. So when someone tries to tell you that the world is gray, congratulate them for entering the fray, but then help get them a bus ticket to the Light before the darkness sets in.

Living in the gray is surrender, making your residence in the black and white is victory. Working our way through the gray may be as frustrating as untangling Christmas tree lights, but in the end we know our efforts will bring a joyful light.

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1: 4-5)