Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. ~ Matthew 5:16
Once upon a time, not that long ago, I was a Sunday School teacher for the 3 and 4-year-old class at my church. The story one Sunday was ‘let your light shine’. We made candles out of toilet paper rolls and coffee filters and sang ‘This Little Light of Mine’. The children love this song, as children have done for ages.
The Jubillaires, a group of dedicated folks who sings for nursing homes and retirement communities in the area I live, also was singing ‘this little light’ for the residents of the communities we visited. Most of the residents sing with us, pointing their ‘candles’ in the air and circling them around, just as they did when they were children.
Such a lovely lesson taught to encourage me to be everything I can be, helping others and demonstrating the love of God. Why am I, then, sometimes afraid to serve? To put myself out for others? To think ‘who am I?’
As Marianne Williamson famously wrote, “It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
I read her words and remind myself “You are the light of the world.” ~ Matthew 5:14 and “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.” ~ Phillipians 4:13
Published in God in the Life of Our Members, Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church, February 2014
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