What Can't Be Seen
Until we shine a light on it.
I had added a few habanero peppers to the Indian snack mix we love, but the pot was so deep that I couldn’t see the peppers.
I knew that leaving them in after the oil had absorbed their heat could be disastrous if someone ate them.
So I got out my handy flashlight. It took just seconds to see what I was looking for. There they were—hot peppers hiding beneath the cashews and raisins.
Shine A Light
When you shine a light, things you never saw before become visible.
Even when you think you have seen it all or that the light you are currently using is bright enough already, a more brilliant light reveals more to see.
I was sealing the new tile around our wood stove but wasn’t sure I was reaching every place. So I got out my light. I was genuinely surprised to see that not only was I not reaching tiny areas, but I had also missed vast swaths of tile.
These are things I wanted to see.
What about the things we don’t want to see?
If We Can’t See It, Does It Matter?
If I hadn’t found the hot pepper, it would have mattered to the person who ate it.
Or the unprotected tile would eventually have absorbed the ash or smoke from the fireplace, and then the whole thing would have needed to be replaced.
Shining a light to see what we want to see can be easy.
Shining a light to see what we don’t want to see can be difficult.
Events Shine A Light
Sometimes, events take over and make us see what we have been hiding.
We can tell when this happens in the world.
Hurricanes and earthquakes destroy poorly built structures. Unprotected wires cause fires. Hungry people eventually rebel.
World events cause upheaval - physically, mentally, emotionally.
But, sometimes, upheaval events are in our lives.
How many times have we decided not to look beneath the surface of what was happening in our lives and just hoped it would go away?
Sometimes Cracks Appear
As Leonard Cohen said, "A crack in everything is how the light gets in."
Sooner or later, the light will get in. And that’s a good thing.
We celebrate or decry these upheavals or cracks depending on what side we have placed ourselves.
Upheavals and cracks shine lights into situations.
It is our choice what to do with what we see.
Yes, we can ignore it, but we must remember that sooner or later, we must clean up what is not okay, whether it is dirt in the corner, junk in our closets, greed in ourselves, or corruption in the world.
Be The Light
Sooner or later, we must stand, be, and live as light.
The power of light goes beyond its beautiful characteristics. It dissolves darkness, reveals what has been hidden, and supplies life with what it needs to grow.
Del likes to give me lights. We have flashlights of all kinds everywhere in the house. One of those lights is the kind that sits on your head and has a beam in front that can be adjusted from a wide to a narrow beam or send an SOS.
After we added an addition to our front window so it went to the floor, it was my job to paint the woodwork around it.
I had trouble seeing what I was painting because the light from the window kept blocking my view. When I tried it at night, the lights in the room still weren’t bright enough, so Del suggested I wear the helmet light as I painted.
Wow, what a difference. I could see everything.
But, here‘s the trick about light. Well, it’s the trick about progress. We must be willing.
I had to be willing to see what I was missing. I had to be willing to wear the light.
Focused Light
If you want to see how dirty your floor is, turn out the lights so the room is dark and use a sweeper with a light in front of it.
You’ll never see your floor the same again. Diffuse light reveals some dirt, while focused light shows everything.
The next choice is to ignore the dirt (problem) or to do something about it.
It’s the same in life. When we shine a focused light on families, companies, and governments, we will see what we missed.
Sometimes it will be something beautiful, and sometimes it won’t be.
How much dirt has accumulated depends on how long it has been since light has been applied.
Ignore Or Do Something
It seems so easy to ignore. Heck, how many people are going to walk around my house with a flashlight on their head? I won’t see the dirt. They won’t see the dirt.
But consciously or unconsciously, I will know it’s there. And sooner or later, it will become a problem.
When people start making choices that are not good for them—or good for them but not for others—it makes dirt.
It builds, and it expands. Small lies become bigger lies. Small choices eventually become more expansive, and the web of lies, deceits—dirt—grows.
Sooner or later, we have to choose to clean.
In doing so, we must be willing to live with the temporary chaos that cleaning brings.
Chaos Is Temporary
It’s good to remember it’s temporary as we disturb the dirt.
However, when we choose not to clean, there is chaos behind the scenes in all that dirt, and sooner or later, it will erupt, and THAT chaos will be longer than temporary.
In my book Living in Grace, I tell this story:
“Quantum physicist Arthur Zajonc says, “Understanding the true nature of light requires looking not only with the eyes but with the soul.”
He and a friend designed an exhibit as part of a science project he called “Eureka.” It consisted of a box with a projector whose light was shown directly into the box without touching any part of the box. Obviously, within the box was pure light.
However, when they looked through a viewport into the box, there was only blackness. When they inserted a wand, it revealed the light by reflecting it. Without an object on which light can fall, there is only darkness.
We take light for granted. We think it is part of our world. But it is not. It is part of an invisible world, like the wind. Both are only visible in their interaction with an object.”
In her book Creative Visualization, Shakti Gawain said: "Evil (ignorance) is like a shadow—it has no real substance of its own, it is simply a lack of light. You cannot cause a shadow to disappear by trying to fight it, stamp on it, by railing against it, or any other form of emotional or physical resistance. In order to cause a shadow to disappear, you must shine light on it."
We Are The Light.
Here’s the part that is both wonderful and not so wonderful if we don’t want to believe it or act from the knowledge of it.
We are the light of the world. We shine our light to see what needs to be seen either because it is beautiful or because it needs to be removed.
In Matthew 5: 14 we read, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
And We Are The Object
We are both the light and the object.
We are the objects that divine light shines upon, and in this world, we are the light —the emitters of light, the reflectors of light. As light, we bring light to every situation.
We are the beauty of the light revealing all that is good, and we are the light uncovering all that needs to be cleaned.
Next time you walk into a room, pause for a minute and imagine yourself as light.
Feel what happens. We can’t withdraw and hide as the light, but we don’t need to work the room either. Being the light is better than that.
Acceptance
Imagine what would happen if everyone chose to let their light shine.
Within focused light, there is no place for evil—by whatever name it is known to hide.
Staying dark may be comforting. It often feels more effortless, but it’s not what we are here to do. We are here to let our little—no big—light shine.
So turn your light on and shine! Light up the world. It’s your job and a glorious one at that.
Let’s end with this quote by Joe McMoneagle from his book Mind Trek:
Whenever I look into a mirror now, I think of the light. I know that I am seeing only a small fragment of my own totality. The figure staring back at me is the barest representation of what is there and what I may actually be.