Let Your Light Shine (click here for audio)
“Let your light shine before others.” Matthew 5:16
Jesus’ invitation to “let your light shine” sounds like a simple put on a happy face bit of advice. There is much more to it than this.
Imagine turning on a battery powered lantern, placing it inside a box and putting a lid on the box. You say to the box, Let your light shine. Because the light inside the box cannot escape you turn on a spotlight. In fact you turn on several spotlights so the box is well illumined. If the box is moved even a short distance it is no longer in the light. You open the box and place the lighted lantern on top of it. Now when you move the box it is always illuminated because it carries its own light wherever it is.
This is a simple but accurate illustration of our spiritual work. Books and teachers are like spotlights that bring illumination from without. We may read something inspirational in the morning and we may enjoy the light that it gives. As we enter our day, however, we move out of that spotlight and into the activities of the day which makes us feel as though we are in spiritual darkness. We then wait until we can find the time to once again come into the spotlight of another book or teacher.
The light you seek is shining in its fullness within you right now. In the same way that opening the box and taking out the light is a different process than lighting the box from the outside, so letting your light shine is a different process than drawing upon the light of others. The primary “lid” that needs removal is the belief that you do not have sufficient light within, that you much depend on others until your own light grows stronger. Your light is there and it is strong. Let its discovery become the primary aim of your spiritual journey. Let the works of others remind you of what is now waiting for your own discovery.