Let it shine...

Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth?... Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
~ Exodus 4: 10-13

We plant flowers so that they may provide beauty. And like the flower, others see us in good times and in bad times. As I have often shared with others, "What you see is what you get."

It is too hard for me personally to not be who I am, always.

Jesus says, "No one lights a lamp to put it under a basket; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house" ~ (Matthew 5:14-15).

There is even a children's song that shares for us to let our light shine. During the song we are reminded to, "Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine."

We would like to think that our private and public life were two different things, but if we are seeking ways to live a more spiritual life, then these two must somehow become one.

Anyone trying to live a spiritual life will soon discover that the most personal is the most universal, the most hidden is the most public, and the most solitary is the most communal.

Can you imagine the world that we live if our vulnerabilties were present and known? That our inner most places of our own being was not masked, but transparent for all to witness? How different would the world be if our inner most motives were out in the open and all could see?

I had someone tell me recently, "If you knew what I was thinking you would think I was crazy."

I have yet to truly hear someone share from the heart and not be moved in some way.

That is why our inner lives are lives for others. That is why our solitude is a gift to our community, and that is why our most secret thoughts affect our common life.

The most inner light is a light for the world. Let's not have "double lives"; let us allow what we live in private to be known in public.

Your light must be given a place to shine, so that the world might become a brighter place.

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2018