Does His Light Burn In You?

I indulged in coffee twice Sunday morning—before and after the early service. Hired as the accompanist for the church I grew up in, the added boost kept my fingers strong.

The familiar choir loft stretches across the front of the circular sanctuary, with room for the pulpit, organ, piano, and singers. A three-foot wall defines the space. As I sat nestled behind that wall during the second sermon, my thoughts roamed… If I worked here all the time, I should get my carry permit and keep my gun with me on Sunday mornings because if someone came in shooting, I could hide behind the wall and take aim.

Yes, a Ziva-wanna-be lurks in my frame. Think NCIS. Well aware of my limits, however, I only share my thought to emphasize one thing. Hours before I learned of the mass shooting in a Texas church, I pondered a potential plan of action within the walls of what once served only as a sacred place of safety.

We’re all targets. No one is safe.

How does that make you feel?

With mass killings of innocent people occurring almost weekly, I find it hard to absorb each one. To properly grieve. Or give emotional space to what I can’t truly comprehend.

Only days after the shooting, I sat in a circle of women where I learned that a young man took his life only miles from here in an abhorrent way; that a young teen girl faces chemo after a life-threatening diagnosis; and that a middle-aged father died of a sudden heart attack, leaving a member of our group in deep mourning.

And if all of that happened to people from just our circle, I can't comprehend the level of need that permeates humanity.

Oh how the darkness seems to prevail.

But after teaching a voice lesson one day, I saw something. Or maybe just a glimpse of something. Something that felt deep.

But it's late on Friday so I could be wrong.

What did I see? I saw the darkness. Like a drop of food coloring that slowly swirls through clear liquid.

From there I thought about the garden and its rich, vibrant colors. And the man, Adam, who found life among the varied hues. Woman joined him and roamed free. Free of shame, guilt, pride, greed, pain, loss, sickness, and death.

Just free. In a world of unsurpassable beauty.

Can you imagine that? Isn't that what we long for? To live free in a place of beauty?

But we know the story. We know the man and woman broke rank and ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, unwittingly inviting the darkness in. And since darkness cannot dwell in light, they had to leave the garden.

Even now our knowledge of evil threatens to overpower our understanding of good. Isn't that crazy? Focusing on the good in a world drenched in darkness, requires persistent effort.

Which is why God didn't leave us here alone. He initiated the story of redemption - the story where His son died on a cross and rose again, breaking the power of darkness.

And this is the cool part. When we surrender our lives to Him, He sends the Holy Spirit to ignite our souls. His light then dwells inside, providing counsel as we navigate the dark land.

When we join with Jesus, the true essence of love colors our souls.

The darkness will continue to invade like a creepy crawly kudzu. But as we believe, trust, hope, and refuse to give up on power of God's love, our inner light will shine for ourselves and others, leading us one day at a time on to eternity, the everlasting world of color.

Why do we suffer?Why do bad things happen to good people? Because darkness once entered the world.

But the light has come. Oh people of God... the light has come.

So, let His light shine through you.