The Light Comes In

Darkness falls on everyone. Like seasons, it comes and goes — some days radiant with hope, light, and awe; others shadowed by trepidation and tinged with hopelessness.

As Forrest Gump reminds us: “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.”

To a degree, Mr. Gump and his mother were right. If we wander through life with little more than a wish and a prayer, choosing confections at random, we’ll taste both sweetness and bitterness. I must admit I have shaken hands with tartness as of late.

Short Term vs Long Term

Think. 

Find one example that found you blown away when witnessing kindness bestowed on another person. Think about your reaction.

• Were you touched so deeply that you found your eyes watering? 
• Did you wonder, “Why isn’t it normal for the world and its people to be like this – all the time?”
• Do you remember a similar time when you made a difference for someone else?
• Remember a time when you might have, with the best of intentions, tried to make a difference but were rejected or manipulated. Did it leave a bitterness that proclaimed, “Never again!”? 
• Did you find yourself recalling a time when you could have acted kindly, you could have made a difference, and yet did not? 

Sparks of Life and Teenagers

"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

It could well be that I have heard and/or read this verse hundreds of times. You might easily say the same thing. There have been sermons, talks, teachings, songs, discussions, and thought-provoking articles featuring this verse. 

I'm not going to add to the noise today with superfluous words of my own. 

We All Hope, Right?

Hope is “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.”  That sounds reasonable.  We all hope for things to get better, right?  We all hope for change that matters to us, our family, and even the world itself. 

There are lots of reasons to hope. A staple of writing for me seems to be a little research tool called Google.  If you ask the algorithms to search this topic for you, you might find 726 million results like I did.  I did not read them all.

A short synopsis reveals that people find hope in different categories.

• Theology
• Psychology
• Politics
• Climate-change
• Racial Disparity
• Ecology

Sharing Your Flame

Wracking my brain, I just cannot remember where I came across this video!  Maybe it will reveal itself before I finish.  

Today, I ask that you consider starting with the video link.  If you want to follow along, the lyrics are published below.

Go Light Your World (SDA) - YouTube 5 Minutes.

Groups of 10

I am aware that thousands of you are more qualified, more creative, more engaging, and more influential than I.  But whether you are a mover, shaker or dreamer, please finish this article and then point your inexhaustible talents toward creating hope and light for those around you.  I apologize in advance for the extended length.

Life has changed and for how long, we don’t know.  Looking forward to what a post-pandemic future might look like can only be called conjecture.

I am not interested in contributing more gloom to the discordant noise we hear daily.  News that reaches us from every source is foreboding and somber as we endeavor to keep up with moment-by-moment changes.  We learn what to do and what not do.  We examine current situations in neighboring communities and those of distance.

I think we’re called to more.

It’s not enough to talk about this around the water-cooler.  Oh right, we won’t find anyone at the water-cooler.  It’s not enough to soak up information from every authority available.  It’s not enough to ‘shelter-in-place’ tightly clutching our form of worry beads.

Millions are wrapped in sudden, unexpected turmoil as they experience the pain of head-snapping, almost violent change even if untouched by this virus.  As we pour over constant updates, we need to remember that the information we absorb is not only about statistics, restrictions, closings, layoffs, and quarantines (self-imposed or otherwise).  Beneath all of that, are people.  It should always be about people – close neighbors and those of distance.

I think we’re called to more.

Pop Quiz

You’re a good person.  You go to church every week.  You donate resources to help others.  You spend time in prayer and even read the Bible. As far as you're concerned, you do all the right things.

Having been triggered by a couple of situations, I mentally embraced a ‘reflect-on-this’ question earlier in the week. I recalled an article written long ago by Seth Godin when I was challenged with, "Answer me this, my friend'.  In his publication, Seth points to our desire to be noticed while we strive to succeed.

The question that sparked this recollection pointed toward living life as Christians.  The presented quiz might help to determine how successful we might be in our quest to live like Jesus.

Should you wish to play, answer honestly.

Headlights

Winter driving is different than summer driving not just because of snow, ice and the extra time it takes to cover distance but because of darkness.

Our automotive stock today has a built-in solution.  We turn a knob or flip a switch and ‘let there be light’.  We can now see where we’re going and others can see us as well.

For headlights, we thank you, God.

Since I have only 4 miles between job and home, I am not always cloaked in blackness when commuting.  Frequently, I drive in a condition known as twilight.  Even so, there is still a need for the light provided by headlights as nothing is perfectly clear.

But here’s what I haven’t noticed before.  A LOT of drivers embrace the darkness.  The tool-of-light remains untouched.  They prefer the surprise of an obscure path to one of enlightenment. Their dashboards remain invisible to their eyes while their vehicles remain invisible to others.

Imperfect Beauty

This tree looks as though it should have fallen over years ago.  It's had a difficult life as its location has has pulled against the tree's natural tendency to grow straight.  A short slope has deprived this tree of valuable nutrients and water.

But, far from the perfect coniferous ideal, it continues to successfully struggle for life.  It finds a way to turn towards the light and grow.

Light & Life

From the time we first open our eyes at birth to the moment we die and "follow the light", our world is filled with signs of hope through this miracle of life.

A morning sunrise.
A lighthouse on a rocky shore.
A street lamp on a running path.
A light refracted to create a rainbow.

A miracle because;
Light completely dispels darkness.
Light provides safety and leads the way.
Light encourages hope