Thursday, January 19, 2017

Thinking About Light: Thursday's Reflection

I have been thinking about light lately. 

I am not the only one, it seems, for light seems to be a topic of reflection for many these days. 

For example, every month this past year I received as a gift a lovely handlettered quotation, which I displayed on a small easel on my desk. The theme was light.

          No one lights a lamp in order to 
          hide it behind door: the purpose of 
          light is to create more light, 
          to open people's eyes, to reveal the marvels around.
                                                   Paul Coelho

          Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light
          can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love
          can do that.
                                                    Martin Luther King, Jr.

In addition I subscribed this year to monthly pamphlets from Joan Chittister's "The Monastic Way" series. The theme for January is "You are the light of the world." Matthew 5:14, and each day offers brief thoughts for reflection. 


              The world is saved one light at a time until the path
          is ablaze with the way to tomorrow. But it will not
          happen until I myself become a light, until I myself
          am willing to say the truth into the darkness. Then, 
          only then, the world really changes.

          Dark times are only a call to do life better than we have
          been doing. 'Give light,' Erasmus wrote, 'and the darkness 
          will disappear of itself.'

Give light. 

We live in challenging times, not just interesting times. Many of us have felt the darkness creeping out of the shadows and crowding out our hopes and dreams, replacing them with fear. President Obama in his farewell address said to be "vigilant, but not afraid."

We need light, in order to be vigilant. We can't see what we can't see. 

Give light. Be light. 

PS: As a reminder to give light, be light, I have added a string of white lights around the window in my garret. Let there be light! 

An Invitation
How will you be the light? I would love to know. 


Resources:
     lettergirl
The Monastic Way


1 comment:

  1. Nancy,

    I love the string of white lights around your garret window! As for me, in this season of what I experience as almost unbearable darkness, I will continue to live out the words of a song I learned as a child many years ago, and which children of today still sing, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”

    My light shines from my heart through my love for my family and friends; through my smiling eyes when encountering people who serve me, like the cashier at the grocery store; in my actions through activist outreach, like joining the Women’s March in DC this weekend; through service to my community, from assisting a neighbor in need to working on community boards and committees; and through my financial donations to organizations that help people all around the globe.

    These are small acts in the grand scheme of things, but I believe that if I perform them in a conscious, mindful, light-filled and loving way, they will have a positive effect. I hope!

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