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This little light of mine should be Christ's
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By Mary Regina Morrell
© Catholic Online 2005
This little light of mine should be Christ's
"Jesus said to the crowd: 'No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.' " Luke 8:16-17
One of the most remarkable memories I have of our family cross-country trip to Montana many years ago is that of the night sky - filled almost to capacity, it would seem, with the light of shimmering stars.
I remember one night in particular after we had reached our final destination of Virginia City, Montana. We were sitting around a campfire, four adults and 11 children of various ages, when one of my younger sons leaned back in his lawn chair to survey the sky.
"Wow," he whispered admiringly, then, "Why don't we have so many stars at our house?" I explained to him that the lights from city living seem to block out the stars.
As only a child would, he sat up and gave me the solution.
"Tell everyone to turn their lights off," he said bluntly.
If only it were that easy.
And stars are not the only ones to be affected by the "light blocking light" syndrome.
People suffer from it as well.
Thomas Merton exclaimed his experience of seeing the light of Christ in each person when he wrote: "There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun." In a letter to young monks he says it in a different way: "Life is very simple: we are living in a world that is absolutely transparent to God and God is shining through it all the time."
But that light, like the light of the stars, is often invisible to others around us when we insist on having the world's spotlight shining on us moment after moment.
Living near the shore and a popular night club I am regularly introduced to large numbers of people who are all vying for the spotlight and the attention it brings.
My son, an eighth grade teacher and coach, routinely deals with parents who insist on pushing their children into the sport or academic spotlight, even when their accomplishments don't warrant such recognition.
As adults, our egos often serve as the infamous stage mother, filling us with a desire to increase in power, position or recognition, but when it becomes "all about me" it can no longer be "all about Christ."
Certainly, it's a struggle each of us has had at one time or another.
With just a few words, John the Baptist taught this lesson powerfully to his followers when, with his final witness, he explained why Jesus was now also baptizing with water.
"He must increase; I must decrease." John said.
In today's language he could have said, "It's time to take the spotlight off me so the light of Christ can shine."
If we learn from John, then we can truly shimmer like the stars in a Montana sky.
Contact
Diocese of Metuchen
http://www.diometuchen.org
NJ, US
Mary Regina Morrell - Associate Director, Office of Religious Education, 732 562.1990
mmorrell
Keywords
light, stars, spotlight, Christ
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