Sunday, August 7, 2016

Made of Light

After watching the days grow longer and the brilliance of the beautiful, full moons (including that amazing "strawberry" moon that shone on the evening of the summer solstice), I have been giving a great deal of thought to light. What I realized was that I believe even stronger that we are made of the light of God. That infinite, ever-shining light provides us with immeasurable opportunities to do good, especially when we share it with others. It reminds me of the lyrics to that wonderful old children's Gospel song, "This little light of mine. I'm going to let it shine." We have the choice to squander our light, misusing it to try to dim the light of others, to overpower another's light with ours or to even dim our own. When we do that, we lose sight of the sacred in others. We don't respect their light. Instead, we see ours as the more powerful source. On the other hand, if we choose to consider our light a blessing and, in turn, take every opportunity to be a blessing to others, I believe our light shines brighter, especially when we cast it to help and lift up another. In addition to my starting and ending my days listing three things for which I am grateful, I have added another reflection upon awakening: "How will I cast my light today?" And upon retiring: "How well did I utilize my light today? How can I do better tomorrow?" This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.