Craving the Light

 Craving the Light

I do not know about you, but I love when the sun is visible.  My internal spirit is positively different on sunny blue-sky days compared to cloudy gray days.  The light feeds my spirit.  The light lifts my mental energy.  The light enlivens my outlook on the world.

It seems like the last year we have been walking through a dark tunnel.  We have used whatever light source we could find to move us through the darkness.  The path through the dark tunnel is beginning to show true signs of light at its end.  I would dare say most of are craving the light in more ways than one:

• Craving the light to be with family and friends again in person
• Craving the light to no longer live in fear of this pandemic
• Craving the light to return to a new normalcy of daily rhtyhms
• Craving the light to stand up and be present on matters of justice
• Craving the light to be present in our local community to make a difference
• Craving the light to be in worhsip again without restrictions
• Craving the ligh to feel a greater sense of freedom over anxiety

·      The imagery of light has long been an image of hope and possibility in the connection with God our Creator.  We read in the letter to Ephesus in the New Testament these words, “For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light.  Live as children of light—for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.” (Ephesians 5:8-9)  The idea of shifting from dark to light is like taking on a new identity.  We enter a time of newness and becoming new is being associated with God’s presence. 

The boundary between dark and light is not necessarily clear and defined.  Elmer Towns and Ed Stetzer says of this boundary, “One might like to think of this boundary to be a line that we cross.  In reality, that boundary is more a flickering flame and the edge of dark and light is more like a dance that moves.”  What is light for one person may seem like darkness to another.  One thing is for certain with this image of light.  The more light that is exposed to us the more we can see what is around us and where we are trying to go. 

Emerging from darkness can feel like a load is lifted, a weight being released, a feeling of being freed to something new.  This feeling of release may be a part of our own experience, but for others the light seems too far off in the distance.  It is not our job to fix or assume we can lead others to the light, but we can be presence of support and walk with people through their struggles so that light has the potential to enter their realm of vision.

How can we walk and support those roaming in the dark?

• Become active in the work of racial justice
• Become active in the work of supporting those who are marginalized beccause of their gender identity
• Become active for thos who see their voting right diminishing
• Be willing to listen and not have answers to the pain and hardship of those whose experience is very differnet from our own
• Avoid being silent and speak/act to bring about greater equity for all in the local community, country, and world

          Many of us were moved and inspired by the poetry of Amanda Gorman with her poem on inauguration day.  The closing lines of her poem referenced the image of light I have been talking about when she says,

            “When day comes, we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid. A new dawn looms as we free             it, for there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it, in only we are brave enough to             be it.” 

The message of the Christian faith is a blending of seeking the light, being in the presence of the light, and becoming the light for others to see.  It is not enough to experience the light but allowing the light to inform our living as God’s light to others.  The craving of the light should never come to an end.  We should always be reaching and longing for that empowering presence to fill our spirits with love, passion, and hope.

Let us continue to crave the light God is and has made for our existence and our thriving.

Grace and Peace,

Rev. Dr. Christopher Wilson