In my January 29 post, "Angels Among Us," I wrote about my friend Sheila who passed away recently. I am certain she was an angel right in my office, and I didn't appreciate her nearly enough when she was there. I had been on a different job assignment and was just ready to return to my office when she died. I cried pretty hard at her funeral home visitation. I was dreading going back to my job and I really couldn't imagine the office without her light.
As I struggled with returning to my job, especially without her light, I experienced a moment when I had a flash: I didn't have to imagine the office without that light. I knew that anyone could bring that light, and if Sheila was gone, I could bring it. Each of us has that light, and I think we have a responsibility, maybe even a privilege to do so. As a consequence, I've been trying. I know, the Yoda said there is no try, there is do or no do. I have been doing at times. I have been "no doing" at times. That's just the way it is.
It's been two weeks. What I've discovered along the way is that on the days that I am letting my light shine, I feel better. It really does feel like Sheila's light is there, except it is coming from within me. On the days that I don't quite get there, or maybe don't get there at all, I experience the office as dark and heavy. It's not the office that has changed: it is me and what I bring to it that has changed.
I am giving up on trying to let me light shine. Lent presents me with an opportunity. One of my tasks is to eliminate whatever separates me from God, and I really believe that light within me is God. Rather than trying to let my light shine, I am going to focus to my intention on feeling and radiating God's light. The light graces me and blesses others around me. I think/hope/imagine that 40 days of focusing on letting my light shine may change my life, and I'd like to think that it will improve the lives of those around me.
Showing posts with label let my light shine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label let my light shine. Show all posts
Friday, February 12, 2016
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Welcome to Winter
Winter officially began today. In Washington we had temperatures in the 70s: I was warm walking my errands in my long-sleeved cotton shirt. Other places in the country had thunderstorms and even forecasts of tornados, not typical of winter weather. While Kansas City, which was assaulted by ice and snow, will attest that winter is indeed with us, many of its residents will probably also add that just three or four days ago, they were having the tee-shirt weather that we had today.
While we usually think of winter in terms of temperatures and the forms of precipitation that come with them, the Winter Solstice and the official beginning of winter is really about light. This day is the one with the least amount of daylight in the year--our darkest day, making today's bright sunshine and blue skies especially welcomed.
Light is more than the sun we get. Metaphorically, it represents the positive in life, compared to the darker side of life. Light also is a reflection of something alive in us, thus the expression about someone having "light in his eyes." I recently read about how very dark it was when the sun went down until the last century or so because candles were too expensive for ordinary families. For people at that time, light symbolized prosperity.
Light also brings with it an association with divinity, where candles represent God's light in the darkness of our lives. Many religious, ethnic, and national holidays that have to do with light are celebrated around the time of the Winter Solstice. There is even some suggestion that although Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus at the darkest time of the year, that he was probably born in spring. However, the dark time of the year was chosen for commemoration of the holiday to symbolize the light he brought to a dark world.
This afternoon I heard part of the TED Talk by volunteer fire fighter Mark Bezos, in which he related a fire-fighting incident, in which he did something that was of little consequence to him but held great value to the homeowner, whose home was burning. After telling the story, he said that often times we overlook doing something that is good because we are waiting to do something great. He said that everyone of us can do something good every day. (http://www.ted.com/talks/mark_bezos_a_life_lesson_from_a_volunteer_firefighter.html)
When I was a youngster, we learned a song called "This Little Light of Mine." The words speak to the fact that we often keep our light under a bushel, when we should let it shine. I believe what that song is about is what Mark Bezos was encouraging. We should do something good every day that lets our light shine. Especially at this dark time of year, the world would definitely benefit if each of us brought our light fully into the world.
While we usually think of winter in terms of temperatures and the forms of precipitation that come with them, the Winter Solstice and the official beginning of winter is really about light. This day is the one with the least amount of daylight in the year--our darkest day, making today's bright sunshine and blue skies especially welcomed.
Light is more than the sun we get. Metaphorically, it represents the positive in life, compared to the darker side of life. Light also is a reflection of something alive in us, thus the expression about someone having "light in his eyes." I recently read about how very dark it was when the sun went down until the last century or so because candles were too expensive for ordinary families. For people at that time, light symbolized prosperity.
Light also brings with it an association with divinity, where candles represent God's light in the darkness of our lives. Many religious, ethnic, and national holidays that have to do with light are celebrated around the time of the Winter Solstice. There is even some suggestion that although Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus at the darkest time of the year, that he was probably born in spring. However, the dark time of the year was chosen for commemoration of the holiday to symbolize the light he brought to a dark world.
This afternoon I heard part of the TED Talk by volunteer fire fighter Mark Bezos, in which he related a fire-fighting incident, in which he did something that was of little consequence to him but held great value to the homeowner, whose home was burning. After telling the story, he said that often times we overlook doing something that is good because we are waiting to do something great. He said that everyone of us can do something good every day. (http://www.ted.com/talks/mark_bezos_a_life_lesson_from_a_volunteer_firefighter.html)
When I was a youngster, we learned a song called "This Little Light of Mine." The words speak to the fact that we often keep our light under a bushel, when we should let it shine. I believe what that song is about is what Mark Bezos was encouraging. We should do something good every day that lets our light shine. Especially at this dark time of year, the world would definitely benefit if each of us brought our light fully into the world.
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