This site and this company were not always called Eternal Revolution. For quite a while, t-shirts, books, and the occasional multimedia product were distributed through my efforts under the name R.A.G.E. Media, at DyingLight.com.
I still get traffic from searches for items from the old company – probably in part because the old company name and url are on books that are out there in circulation.
Yet another product is in the works using the popular “Dying Light” title. It’s definitely catchy. But I was surprised by how many did not get the reference to “dying light,” despite it being a popular theme in numerous movies, TV shows, books, and so on.
Both the name R.A.G.E. Media (standing for Rebellious Affirmation of Greater Existence) and the url DyingLight.com were references to the poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” which features the refrain, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
What better way to experience a poem than to hear the author read it:
You can also read the full text here at Poets.org.
Having a name like R.A.G.E. for a company got me a lot of questioning comments and questions. “Why so angry?” was a common theme of inquiry.
There are things in our existence that are worth our anger and our rage. While Dylan Thomas’ poem was about death, and not going quietly into “that good night,” I – as many others before me – used a good vs evil interpretation of the phrase. Raging against the apparent dying of Christ’s light in the world and the looming threat of a not-so-good darkness.
Anger, after all, was exhibited by our Lord when He turned out the merchants and money lenders in the temple, an event recorded in all four Gospels. Was that not validation of rage at evil?
However, in time and with the help of a friend the company was renamed, this time for a chapter from G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy, “The Eternal Revolution.” The name change reflected a more significant shift from focusing on raging at the apparent fading of the light in the world, to dealing with the more personal war of each soul to partake in the kingdom of heaven.
Rage, anger, and cursing the darkness have their place in time, as all things do. But the constant fight to turn ourselves to God – an ongoing re- volution – is a far more perennial endeavor. The mission of Eternal Revolution is still to equip Christians for spiritual combat, but the focus is far more introspective.
So if you have come here via DyingLight.com, welcome. We’re still resisting the darkness here at Eternal Revolution. Come join us, and pray for revolution.
Paul Nowak is a husband and father of 7, who also happens to be a writer and author. He has written The Way of the Christian Samurai among other books.