Let There Be Light

Posted on April 2, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized, Responsibility, Faith, Freedom, Courage, Community |

Last night, my hubby and I had the house to ourselves so we watched a movie . . . and shed a few tears. Even having both read the book, we were greatly moved by The Kite Runner.

Wiped out and with a headache, I looked at him and said, “there is beauty in the most unexpected places.” And I guess that’s all the proof I need of a loving God. This world is full of evidence of the brutality, selfishness, and deceit that we can perpetrate against one another; our brothers and sisters; ourselves. But every now and again, and perpetually, love, hope, peace, redemption, and grace pierce through our darkness and sheds some marvelous light that we are, incredibly, welcomed to bathe in. We’ve seen these bursts of light in the likenesses of Gandhi, Mandela, Wilberforce, Martin Luther King, Jr., and of course, Jesus, and the impact that their lights have had on our world is indelible and ongoing.

The Kite Runner suggests that we, by our courage and selflessness, can be lights used to illuminate anyone’s life . . . even if it’s just one someone’s life . . . maybe even especially then. I’m perhaps feeling so emotional about this challenge toward choosing to be a light because I, along with others at my church and in my band, have been preparing for a concert called “At the Table,” which is a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.

This presentation feels so significant because it takes place this Friday, the 40th anniversary of his assassination. 40 years. And, I can’t help but ask, where are we in the dream?

Yes. There is still racial and socio-economic social injustices that systematically exists within our country and throughout the world. Yes. People are still judged by their skin and not the content of their character. Yes. There are gross imbalances in our schools, job markets, and prisons that exist based on little else than ethnicity and/or gender. As King used to say, “We’ve come a mighty long way . . . ” and with miles yet ahead. But, the light he cast upon the darkness of prejudice, which was snuffed out 40 years ago, does still illuminate today. Today, 40 years later into the dream, we have Barack Obama, a Black man who will very likely be the leader of this great nation . . . 40 years into the dream and King’s light is still brightly shining.

I want to shine. I want to shine like Jesus, like King, like my daddy, like my mom. I want to shine and invite others, like my neighbors, like my soon coming grandgirl, like some unwed, pregnant teen into my light . . . because maybe it will spark a light of their own and impact this sometimes overwhelmingly dark world in a major, eternal way. I want to shine the love of God so that people catch fire with the same fire and light a flame around the world. I want to shine, to glorify my Father in heaven. There is beauty in this world, in the most unexpected places.

Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Peace and Blessings,