The Gospel According to David Lynch

David Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 15, 2025) was a visionary artist and cinematic genius whose surrealist work established him as an absurdist virtuoso filmmaker unlike any we have ever witnessed before. His “Lynchian” style blended nightmarish realism with deadpan humor to create a decidedly Americana-flavored existential horror show that many of us couldn’t get enough of.

Most people discovered his work when his “Twin Peaks” television series introduced us to the unsolved mystery of who killed Laura Palmer [and we still don’t know the answer yet]. Others might have first heard his name while watching his bizarro take on “Dune” in the 80’s, or perhaps even his masterful turn introducing us all to “The Elephantman” a few years earlier.

For me, his masterpiece will always be the puzzle-box noir film “Mulholland Drive” which, to this day, I cannot stop thinking about. Sometimes I even think I’ve cracked the code but another re-watch might prove me wrong.

So, when the news of his passing dropped last week, I was stunned and deeply saddened. I wasn’t ready to process the staggering loss at the time, and I’m still processing all of it even now.

But yesterday, while scrolling through Instagram, I came across a short clip of David Lynch and what he said made me stop and smile. In fact, it inspired me to sit down and write this blog post, because I think it’s something we all need to hear right now.

Here’s what David Lynch said: “Don’t even worry about the darkness. Turn on the light and the darkness goes. Turn up that light of pure consciousness: Negativity goes.”

Don’t you feel the weight of that darkness, my friends? Don’t you feel as if the darkness is all around you, and that it’s just about to overwhelm you and plunge all of us even deeper into that bottomless pit of negativity?

I feel it.

And when I heard David Lynch reminding me that the darkness isn’t a thing, that it’s literally the absence of light, and that all we need to do is to turn on the light to make it go away, it gave me hope. It filled me with joy. It made me believe that darkness was nothing to fear and that the answer to everything was – and is – already inside me and you and every single one of us.

We have the light within us. We can make it shine.

In fact, we all need to let it shine so that the darkness has nowhere safe to hide.

Like this week when Bishop Budde stood in her pulpit and asked our President to show mercy to the children who are afraid their parents might be deported, and reminded him that immigrants are mostly good people who pay taxes and support our communities, I saw her light shine.

And yes, the response from the President was to spread more darkness, but he couldn’t push back her light. Her light is still shining. Her words are still echoing. Her call for compassion and empathy for our fellow humans keeps resounding in our hearts.

The light has come into the world, and the darkness has not – and will never – overcome it.

So, today I urge you to remember the Gospel According to David Lynch. I encourage you to remember that darkness is only the absence of light and that whenever we turn on the light, the darkness disappears.

Keep shining your light, my friends. Please, keep shining wherever you are. Stand up and speak out. Not with anger, not with bitterness, but calmly and confidently speak the truth of our shared humanity and our shared divinity. Ask others to show mercy. Show mercy yourselves.

Leave no room for the darkness to hide. No corner for it fester. No shadow for it to thrive.

The light within you and within all of us is more than enough to push back the dark.

So, let it shine.

The newest book from Keith Giles, “The Quantum Sayings of Jesus: Decoding the Lost Gospel of Thomas” is available now on Amazon. Order HERE>

Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.”

He co-hosts The Heretic Happy Hour Podcast and his solo podcast, Second Cup With Keith which are both available on Spotify, Amazon, Apple, Podbean or wherever you find your podcast fix.