When I saw that the theme for the February 9th, 2014 service was “Let Your Light Shine”, I knew that I wanted to plan this service because a decade ago, in 2004, my favorite blues singer Keb’ Mo’ had released a peppy blues song entitled “Let Your Light Shine” and the first time I heard it, I knew that I wanted to use it in a worship service one day. However, as that day drew closer, the Portland metro area was hit with a rare winter storm that made traveling outside a dangerous trek, so the service was cancelled. Since I did not want the theme to “go to waste”, I asked for it to be rescheduled when there was a lull in the calendar.
March 23rd was the new day and it turned out to be a great week for the theme. I mentioned the recent news item about the passing of a preacher who was known to picket military funerals with signs that said “God hates…” and how that message contrasted with another famous preacher who had said: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” The preacher of that message was, of course, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When I think of God, the experience and image that comes to the forefront of my mind is perfectly stated in a popular campfire song that many church members know by heart: “I’ll shout it from the mountaintop, I want the world to know, the Lord of love has come to me and I want to pass it on.”
I love the theme of light and of lit candles in a dark room. I also believe that each of us emits a light that others can see or feel. Two examples I’ve shared were Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi. Both individuals have been in dangerous situations where they could have been killed, but even the people who wanted to kill them and had the means to do so admitted that there was something remarkable about them that they actually feared causing them harm. Many who know these individuals have often said the same thing: Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi had a regal presence about them. What is this thing that people recognize? What kind of inner light do these individuals have that causes them to endure the hardships of long imprisonment, torture, seeing their beloved friends killed by the government, and living without contact with their loved ones?
When I first started attending Tuality Community of Christ in January 2010, I was in a dark place. The previous month, December 2009, one could say that I had hit rock bottom. I had lost a lady that I wanted a relationship with when she moved away, I was miserable in a job that I absolutely hated and which caused me pain anytime someone asked me about work, and I attended a congregation where I felt like I didn’t belong. I was considering going to the Unitarian Church in downtown Portland since I had started meditating there, but the Weavers told me to give Tuality a try and they generously offered to give me rides to and from church. So, in 2010, I started attending and participated in the hikes with Jeff Cox and other members of the congregation. Slowly, I crawled out of my personal darkness and by the end of 2010, I was in a new job and feeling a lot better about myself. I also found a spiritual home in Tuality and have come to view all of you as my extended family, which makes life easier when my parents and sister live on the other side of the country.
During the testimony portion of the service, Harold Lasley shared his impression of how he saw my light grow brighter in the years that I have attended Tuality. He said in the beginning, that I would sit at the back of the sanctuary and I wouldn’t speak much with people and he could see my light slowly beginning to shine, particularly in the last year. I was touched to hear that someone has noticed the change in me since I started attending.
During this particular service, the opening music was the praise song “Shine, Jesus, Shine” which always puts me in a happy place. In the middle part of the service, Keb’ Mo’s “Let Your Light Shine” played, with the most relevant part of the lyrics being:
“…If you could see you
The way I see you
You’d start flying on your own.
Step aside and . . .
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Refrain:
“Let your light shine.
Let your love show
It’s a short ride
Down the long road.
When the rains come
And the winds blow
Let your light shine
Wherever you go.
“This world is ready and waiting
For you to break on through.
It’s time to recognize,
To realize,
You’re the only one like you.
Step on up,
Step into your greatness.
Don’t be afraid.
There’s a place where you will rise up to;
No one else could do what you do.”
The service ended with a YouTube video of the Christian pop song, “Go Light Your World” by Kathy Troccoli. Everyone held a small white candle that was lit by someone else’s candle. The beautiful song is a reminder to keep our light and to bring light to the dark spaces we encounter. While we can’t be responsible for someone else’s lack of light, we can strive to be a guiding light for others and perhaps be that individual spark that relights the inner flame in someone else.
March 23rd Weekly Theme Reflection by Nicholas Carroll
