Our Little Light

Once in a while, something familiar is…startling.  After listening to a song on autopilot for half a lifetime, for instance, it suddenly and unexpectedly thrills us. We slip into the groove, connect with the singer’s emotion, feel the joy or the pain or both. I suspect that often there is some catalyst that snaps us out of our wake-sleep. A life-changing experience, like a death or divorce. Something impactful transforms the unimpressive into the sublime and something sacred is stitched into our heart. It happens with films and novels too. It’s one of the delights of ageing, if you ask me. Our perspective shifts and widens. And it happens to me when reading the Bible too. My grasp of familiar stories and parables deepens as I move through life, in faith. Through the process, I understand more. Like getting fit for eyeglasses, the optometrist flips lenses until it becomes easier and easier to see. Blurriness transforms into clarity. Or like watching a football game on television. If you’re new to the game and unfamiliar, the more expert commentary you hear as you watch, the more you understand what’s going on and the richer the experience becomes. Faith is like that.

All of this is a preamble to a recent question from a reader who asked: “What do you mean by walking in the light?” There are numerous references in the Bible that use “light” to describe the presence of God in us and around us. Perhaps the most indelible is John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  The light of life is the light of Jesus in us. That’s what walking in the light means. In Mathew 5:15 Jesus talks about what we ought to do with this gift. He says: “Neither do men light a candle and put it under a basket, but on a candlestick, and it gives light unto all that are in the house.”  In other words, let your little light shine!  Walking in the light is breathing the love of God in and sharing it back out with the world. Cocreating a world, with God, where we love more and judge less. Our light can empower the powerless and bestow influence on the meek. It can give hope to the hopeless. Faith to the lost. It can fill you up when you’re running on empty. How we move through the world, how we shine our light, is the only experience some folks will ever have with God. Mother Teresa put it this way: “Christ has no body but ours. No hands or feet but ours. Christ has no body now on earth but ours.”  Every time I see volunteers rush to the aid of strangers, giving selflessly, I see the light. Every time I witness a bereaved forgive and grant mercy on a perpetrator, instead of demanding vengeance and retribution, I see the light. Forget Instagram, these are the true “influencers” of this world.  So, put your faith glasses on, listen with both ears and let your little light shine!  The song pairing is “Be a Candle.” Until next time, stay safe, be brave and keep walking in the light!