Good morning…
We sat in silence, suddenly stunned. The immensity of God’s invitation felt astounding. As we read these words our hearts pondered aloud, “Might, collectively, we be God’s healing solution for this hurting world?”
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Excerpt from Paula D’Arcy’s Seeking With All My Heart
To live in extraordinary ways, to taste the freedom of the soul deep within, to see without obstruction, demands more than wishing. It demands great desire and intense longing. It demands my effort. Will I consent? Am I willing to receive and have life?
In her book Word Painting, Rebecca McClanahan writes: “In 1998 scientists recorded the first sight of what they termed ‘deep light,’ a mysterious light that emanated from the ocean floor. The discovery of this light, which was too faint to be perceived by the human eye and could be accessed only through the use of a special camera, seemed to suggest that undersea objects produced their own radiance independent of the sun.”
A beautiful description. It was a scientific acknowledgement that the very light that sustains life lies within. But it is not only true for undersea objects that lie on the ocean floor. We are sustained in the same manner. It is a choice for us whether or not we’ll live out that knowing, living at the edge of our lives, aware that a light is there, producing radiance from within. We decide whether or not the faint light within is brought to its fullest brilliance. The light is simply there, waiting.
It is an unbearable gift, having life. So much rests with our own choices. (129-130)
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We talked about being afraid. If the faint light within us was brought to its fullest brilliance, what might happen? Our flimsy fears, gradually burned away. Our gut-wrenching grudges, gradually burned away. Our need to control, gradually burned away. What would our daily lives look like if God’s gift of light was sparked, stoked, and set ablaze?
Then it dawned on us. God’s brilliance, in that given moment, would look just like the basket of love items we had gathered as a class to comfort Brooke LeBow in the waiting room at Emory as she awaited the outcome of her husband’s open heart surgery. The handwritten notes. The yummy homemade goodies. The sweet and the salty. The Scripture verses and the gratitude mug. The blank journal and the easy, encouraging read. Each of these unique love items, appearing abundantly in the basket, had grown out of the faint light within each of us whispering, “Share the love in your heart.”
If God is good, great, and gracious, why are we afraid to fan into flame the faint glow of God emanating within? Our darkened world craves the guiding light of our living LORD, and God’s healing response invites our creative cooperation. He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8, NIV).
“We decide whether or not the faint light within is brought to its fullest brilliance,” Paula’s words spotlight our freedom. “The light is simply there, waiting. It is an unbearable gift, having life. So much rests with our own choices.”
Why are we afraid to live more and more fully, acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God, day after day?
…Sue…
