LET ME BE LIGHT

For all of my life for as long back as I can remember, except for a few weeks back in sixth grade when I was laid up back-to-back with swollen glands and pleurisy, I have fought the battle of the bulge, sometimes winning, mostly losing as any photo of me over the years attests. I have always wanted to be light, or at least lighter than I am/was at any time in my life.

It is not good, of course, to be overweight, not good for your very well-being. I am fully aware of the dangers in being so and do not need my PCP to remind me of that truth. So I battle on, day after day, year after year, failing and succeeding, presently, thanks to my wife, more succeeding than failing. Be that as it may, while being lighter, or at least lighter than I am, is good for my physical well-being, it should have a more important reason behind it.

That reason? That I may be light as Jesus was light, certainly not to the degree he was and is, but in the way he was when he walked this earth: by his very presence. Wherever Jesus went, he was like a light coming into the lives of those he encountered. He opened their eyes and ears and hearts to see what they had not seen or heard or loved, for whatever reason they had been closed up or at least not opened as far as they could and should have been.

As Christians we are to be the light to others to see and hear and love in the manner we were created to be. Sometimes we overlook that truth. Sometimes we want to deny it because it seems too difficult. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own lives that we forget and misunderstand how those lives of ours impact others as they do. And the truth is that being that light is not easy.

It’s like going on a diet to become lighter. It takes work. It takes dedication. It takes being aware of everything that we eat and everything we do or not do, like exercise. Jesus was constantly aware of the message he was sending every step of the way in everything he said or did or did not say or do. That was a tremendous burden for him to bear and in no way is it less a burden for you and me to bear.

But we are called to bear it. Be we do not bear it alone. Just as I need my wife to support me with my eating and exercising, and vice versa, so, too, in being that light to others do we need the love and support of others. Jesus didn’t go it alone. He had a loyal group of followers who somehow understood at least a little of what he was about and what he was calling them to be about. And there was always the Holy Spirit to lend support when even his closest friends abandoned him. His light never went out.

Neither does ours. It flickers at times, grows dim, even struggles to keep lit. But with God’s help and the love and support of others our light will continue to shine.