This Little Light is Not What I Thought
You may or may not have grown up with this song, but I sure did. And, I loved the motions that went with it...
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
Hide it under a bush, oh no!
Don't let Satan blow it out!
Let it shine, let it shine all the time!
Even as I get older, I pull back on this idea - to let my light shine. It's actually a very accepted concept in all walks of life, Christian or not. Why, you can read it on inspirational quotes in any retail store you walk into.
So, wouldn't you be shocked like me this morning when I found a very different unsettling thought to go with this normal, daily, lifelong anthem?
I found that Harry Dixon Loes, the song writer, left out a very important part to his legendary little ditty. One that doesn't feel as 'shiny'...
yet is what Jesus was talking about all along.
You'll have to walk with me to Mark 4 in the New Testament to see this.
To catch us up, Jesus begins with the story the song was fashioned after...
"Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its' stand?"
Okay, so far, so good, I'm tracking...
But, what Jesus says next is where He defines what it means to be a light, a lamp. And, this is what Harry left out...
"For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open."
Wait.
I thought the purpose of my light was to look all shiny. I thought it was to put my best self out there, hiding all my imperfections, in order to encourage others.
No.
According to our Counselor, shining my light means 'disclosing' the things I want to hide. It means opening up what I would rather conceal.
Paradigm shift
But...
as hard as it is to share my faults and failures...
I like this new way of lighting up the world. I really do.
It means others around me might share their 'light' of faults and failures with me as well. And, I won't feel so alone in my mess-ups. And, I will be able to repent easier. And, I will be able to forgive easier. Then, I will be able to breathe easier. I will be able to be a little more courageous.
More real.
Someone this week is going to need you to be vulnerable in disclosing what you would rather have hidden and concealed.
I hope you will shine your light... Let it shine, let it shine
ALL the time.