One of my favorite songs to sing begins, "There's a light emanating from my spirit, a white light shining from my soul, and the light emanating from my spirit, is the light that's making me whole." I sing it with gusto, with enthusiasm, and with conviction, because I believe it. I have experienced it--not just in myself but in others. Today with my trio Blissing, we performed "You Can't Be A Beacon If Your Light Don't Shine," another song with power and conviction of an inner reality. There is one line in the chorus that goes, "There's a little light in all of us by God's design." That light shines from within when we let it, when we take off the blinders that keep out the light and keep us from seeing the light all around us. You see, my friends, we live in our own light, in each other's light, and in God's light, because we are all One. So even if your light seems a little dim sometimes, our lives are always illuminated with the truth of our connection with the Divine in ourselves and in others. I remember from my early days in an Episcopalian church hearing the priest say right before the offertory, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify the father in heaven." Now my theology has changed, but the idea stays eternal: there's a little light in all of us, and our task is to LET IT SHINE! |