A Lesson in Light

I don't have anything to say to you tonight.

The end.





Okay, just kidding.  Sort of.  The truth is, I really don't have anything to say to you.  Because when I search inside myself for the words to comfort you in this crazy world, I can't find them.  Then I start to get nervous.  What if I can't think of anything to write tonight?  What will I say?  I can't do 39 posts!  Oh no!  What will I do?!  And suddenly, before I can stop it, the pressure to preform has reared its ugly head and any semblence of divine peace, or even divine chaos for that matter, is lost.

Because I'm not the light.

You know that kids song: This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.  This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.  This little-

You get the idea.  Well as inspiring and adorable as it is, we've missed the point!  The song doesn't say: I am the light, and I'm gonna shine.  The light is possessed by the singer, not produced by the singer.

We can try to be the light.  Search deep inside ourselves for the words to comfort a friend.  Pull it together and try to go help the world fix itself.  In the huge relm of things, we might even be able to produce a few sparks ever once in awhile.

But we weren't made to be the light and when we try, we just end up feeling burnt out.

Like I did, earlier tonight.  When we feel like we have to perform, our task of bringing God to the world seems exhausting.  God is just so big and the world is just so broken.  How will we ever get it all done? 

But Jessica, you ask, shouldn't we be bringing light to the darkness?

To that, I say, yes!  Now there is a worthy, God-given task.  But it doesn't mean we have to be the light, it just means we reflect it.  God doesn't need us to reach the world, he uses us by choice.

It's a bit like an old lighthouse.  You see, true old-fashioned lighthouses didn't produce light themselves.  Instead, a candle was lit in front of a special mirror.  The mirror shined the light out, but it was the candle that produced the actual light.

The problem was, sometimes the mirror would get dirty and the light would dim.  Our duty to God is not to try and produce light ourselves, but to make sure we are clean, ready mirrors and to stay free of tarnish so that we can reflect his light. 

There was a person whose task it would be to go around every night and clean the mirrors of the lighthouse.  In Christianity, Jesus would be that man.  Jesus made it possible for us to be washed of our sins.  When we allow him to do this, we begin to reflect a bit of his light into the world.

So if you're feeling burnt out tonight, ask yourself: are you trying to be the light?   Do you feel the pressure to perform?  The pressure to produce?  Or are you unwilling to allow yourself to be cleaned?  Have you just not had the time today to acknowledge the candle in front of you?

Take a moment to say this and then remember it throughout the day.  It is a freeing truth.

I shine, not burn.

Comments

  1. I really like your imagery with the light house. Cleaning away the dirt the same as he cleaned away our sins. It is a good reminder that we are not the source of the light, so quit trying to make a fire (no matter how much flint and steel you have).
    ~Chris

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