Everyone on the news had been excited all week. The children at school were given special glasses. We sat outside at home watching intently the changes in the brightness of the sunlight and listening to how nature around us was reacting….
…Today there was a solar eclipse across the United States from Texas to Maine. From our vantage point in Lakewood, Lees Summit, Missouri it was only a partial eclipse so the light was only slightly dimmed however it gave us a chance to just take a moment and pause and to really consider the enormity of the universe and the wonders of light.
How amazing is light? Do we take it for granted? Or only miss it when it is not there? As we stood in the shadow of the eclipse today we marvelled at the unusual patterns of light on the ground that were made from the nearby trees. Someone said on the radio that in an eclipse all the animals are quiet as if time itself stands still. Yet maybe because we were only in a partial eclipse this theory didn’t play out around us; from near and far all we could hear were birds singing in a spectacular chorus - I liked to think it was their version of Hallelujah!
Where do you place yourself in perspective to light? Do you hide in the shadows? Do you give or receive light? Do you see patterns of light in your universe? Perhaps you stand close to the light source and project the light or maybe you are further away from the source and need to retrieve the light.
We have the potential ourselves to be light and to receive light. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus tells us to let our light shine before others. In John 8:12 Jesus says “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
We don’t have to do anything to prove ourselves worthy of receiving the light. We just need to allow this light to pour itself though us into the world. This is devotion; to reflect the boundless spectrum of God’s light all around us.
What is this light of life that we are promised? I think it is love. I think the light of life that we are assured of is love and infinite divine intention.
Warmly
Anne Bonnefin
Communications Co ordinator
Community of Christ Australia