“I am the Light of the World!” begins one of my favorite hymns (#584 in the black
hymnals). In these wintry days, I must scrape the frost off my car windows in single-
digit temperatures in the morning, and it is dark and chilly before I get home in the
evening. Some of you have heard that I cannot drive my car all the way home. The
valley on my gravel lane is still icy, and I would get stuck (again) trying to get out of
that valley. I am not complaining. Most of the year it is a joy to live in the country. But
I am eager for more light to shine in the world – sunlight to melt the icy roads and Son
Light to melt the spiritual ice that coats our human hearts and prevents us from
expressing fully the love God has offered us. “You people come and follow me”
continues the hymn in its second line. The day of Epiphany (always January 6, the
twelfth day after Christmas Day), is marked by the star light the guided the magi to the
Christ child. The last Sunday of Epiphany (March 2 this year) is always marked by the
Transfiguration of Jesus, the account of his facing emitting a bright light on a
mountaintop with three of his disciples. In the season of Sunday worship services
between those two days, I am especially following the ways in which the ministry of
Jesus expressed the Light of God’s Love amidst the darkness of the world. Last week it
was a Baptismal Light that shone. This week it will be Light Shining Behind the
Scenes. “If you follow and love, you’ll learn the mystery of what you were meant to do
and be” concludes the refrain to the hymn. Light and love give mysterious shape to
our Christian identity. With solar panels, we can “catch” sunlight and convert it to
energy to heat our homes. With prayer and other spiritual practices, we can “catch”
Son Light and convert it to the energy of Love to bring warmth to our world.
“I am the Light of the World!
You people come and follow me!”
If you follow and love, you’ll learn the mystery
Of what you were meant to do and be.
Peace,
Rev. Tim Darmour-Paul