Florence and the Origin of the Light

I’m reading Florence Nightingale’s (1969/1860) Notes on Nursing What it is and What it is Not, trying to re-connect with nursing and my work. I seem to have no interest and skip to the section on the importance of light in securing the health of houses (Nightingale, 1969/1860). I didn’t get very far when I realized what I knew and what was written didn’t align. A speedy Google search and later review of my textbooks suggest that 50% of authors didn’t capture what I’m seeing now for the first time. I have always referenced and referred to light to mean “a natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible” (Light, 2022, “noun” section).

What did Florence say that I hadn’t seen before?

Second to air, the sick need light . . . it is not only light but direct sun-light they want . . . People think the effect is upon the spirits only. This is by no means the case. The sun is not only a painter but a sculptor. You admit that he does the photograph. Without going into any scientific exposition we must admit that light has quite as real and tangible effects upon the human body. But this is not all. Who has not observed the purifying effect of light, and especially direct sunlight, upon the air of a room? (pp. 84-85)

And you should therefore look to the position of the beds of your sick one of the very first things. If they can see out of two windows instead of one, so much the better. Again, the morning sun and the mid-day sun – the hours when they are quite certain not to be up, are of more importance to them, if a choice must be made, than the afternoon sun. But the best rule is, if possible, to give them direct sunlight from the moment he rises till the moment he sets. (p. 86)

I never realized what Florence said about the sun. For the first time, reading and rereading “The sun is not only a painter but a sculptor. You admit that he does the photograph” (Nightingale, 1969/1860, p. 84) and “. . . from the moment he rises till the moment he sets” (Nightingale, 1969/1860, p. 86).

What did Florence mean? This had to be a Biblical reference so I looked to the Bible for answers, but I saw no connection. Genesis 1:3 only states, “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (KJV). As far as the sun nothing seemed important.

Fast forward, I’m in a used book store and I see a book called The Blood and the Glory by Billye Brim. I buy it thinking maybe the glory has something to do with the sun. And guess what, I think it does. (Please read Brim’s book for yourself as the content is way deeper than I can share in a blog.)

Brim (1995) suggested Genesis 1:3 “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (KJV) was not God “. . . commanding the sun and the moon to become. They didn’t come forth until the fourth day. God was talking about the Light of Himself. In essence this included: God is returning Light and Life to earth” (p. 29).

So what about the sun?

Brim references Hebrews 12:29 “For our God is a consuming fire” (KJV). My own summation is the sun is the origin of light, but could the sun also represent God? I’m not sure.

Reflecting on the Evidence

1. Analyze the sun.

References

Brim, B. (1995). The Blood and the Glory. Harrison House

King James Bible. (2022). Blue Letter Bible Online. https://www.blueletterbible.org

Light. (n.d.). Oxford Languages. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from https://www.google.com/search?q=light+meaning&client=safari&hl=en-us&ei=oRr9YvuvNqqfqtsP4628qAU&oq=light+meaning&gs_lcp=ChNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwEAEYADIICAAQsQMQkQIyBQgAEJECMgUIABCRAjIFCAAQkQIyBQgAEJECMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEOgcIABBHELADOgcIABCwAxBDOg8ILhDUAhDIAxCwAxBDGAE6EgguEMcBENEDEMgDELADEEMYAToICAAQgAQQsQM6CwgAEIAEELEDEIMBOgsIABCABBCxAxDJAzoFCAAQkgNKBQg4EgExSgQIQRgAUNQJWKIdYLksaAFwAXgAgAFziAHXBZIBAzYuMpgBAKABAcgBDsABAdoBBAgBGAg&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp

Nightingale, F. (1969). Notes on Nursing What it is, and What it is Not. Dover Publishing. (Original work published 1860.)

Related Articles and presentations on the life and work of Florence Nightingale

Beck, M.S. (2019, May). A journey into the past, present, and future of nursing. [Paper presentation; Performance; Film]. Novia University, Vaasa, FI, Europe.

Beck, M.S. (2018, April). The return of Florence Nightingale: Theory, research, and
transformational leaders. [Paper presentation; Performance; Film]. NC HOSA Leadership Conference, Charlotte, NC, United States.

Beck, M.S. (2017, September). Storytelling in the digital world: Achieving higher-level learning objectives. [Paper presentation; Performance; Film]. World Education Day, Dalian, LN, China.

Beck, M.S. (2017, June). Florence Nightingale: Theory, research, and transformational leaders. [Paper presentation; Performance; Film]. Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, United States.

Beck, M. (2015, April 11). Performance and scriptwriter for Florence Nightingale. In G. Woody (Director), Scout out Nursing [Community event]. East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, United States.

Howell, A.S. (Producer & Director), Beck, M.S.(Executive Producer & Writer), & Matthias, A. (Writer). (2020). The Year of the Nurse and Midwife: What would Florence Nightingale say Today? [Film, Educational Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGEK1

Special Thanks

Rebecca Niles, PhD, RN, CNE, peer reviewer for Florence and the Origin of Light.