Over the last week and a half I have been changing my vision. It’s been a fascinating process full of contrasts, with significant gains and losses. I’m still adjusting to this new way of seeing the world, noticing colors and textures I was blind to before. But I’m no longer able to read the page in front of me without a significant correction! Some of you may have had this experience when cataracts were removed from your eyes. It’s a simple procedure, really, but for some of us it drastically changes the look and feel of the world around us. For me this past week has been a continual meditation on Light and the often-overlooked reality that it is the contrast between darkness and light that makes the experience of both so profound.
In this same week we have been squeezed through a tiny crack in our nation’s cosmic door where denial and darkness seems to have prevailed. It has been wrenching to watch, to hear, to hold a flimsy thread of hope at the same time knowing the dark forces were formidable and likely to triumph. Holding on to hope is a difficult task in these dark and seemingly darkening times. We need perspective to face the present moment in history. We need to alter our vision and remove the cloud from our lens if we are to be what Jesus calls us to be—salt of the Earth, light of the world. It isn’t enough to claim these titles here in church then go into the world leaving the Gospel behind—shaking our heads at the next proud face of darkness. Our task is to BE the Light, to BE the Salt. How do we do that when our hearts are grieving, as we watch values we hold dear trampled and see the ongoing oppression of peoples and exploitation of earth’s resources with no regard for the future of our planet? How do we stay in the game with hearts open, kind, non-judgmental, generous, honest—all the virtues of Light? Is it even possible to flavor this soup when the ingredients are so bitter and rancid? The even bigger question, though, is how do we continue believing our thoughts and actions matter, that our attitudes make a difference in the larger scheme of things? In fact, how do we believe what Jesus tells us—that we are “Salt of the Earth,” and “Light for the Nations”—except for a fleeting moment? Maybe just while we’re sitting here today? (more…)
