The Light

flickr

I have been thinking a lot lately about the light that Christ is or can be in our lives. I love the analogy of righteousness, goodness and light being like the Son of God and the darkness being likened to bad things, wickedness and evil~all the things that lead us away from righteous living. In fact, for me it is far more than an analogy it is a startling reality. I love that the sun and the Son provide us with all that we need to sustain life, here in mortality and in the eternities. I love that we have our agency to choose between light and darkness in every situation.

Over the weekend we attended our stake conference on Sunday. We met in Oakland on Temple Hill and enjoyed great teachings from our leaders. We enjoyed the spirit we felt and the common foundation we shared with the hundreds of others in attendance. It was just so inspiring and one of the speakers discussed the dichotomy of light and darkness and how we control the light switch in our own lives. It was so in line with my thoughts recently and I loved it and how it applies to everything.

flickr

Often times we feel victimized by the events in our lives. Once we start to feel we have no control we begin on the downward spiral into the darkness. Our agency should bring us great joy. It is true that we cannot prevent some of the 'not so wonderful' things that happen to us, but the way we choose to react is where the power of the light lies. By being reactionary we allow ourselves to be dragged down into a pit, we allow ourselves to venture into the darkness created by fear, anger, and hopelessness. By choosing faith in the Son, we feel of the warmth of his love, his reassurance that we are not alone, and his pure light. The reality is we control the light switch.

I have some good friends that lost a sister at 17 in an auto accident caused by a drunk driver. The five remaining sisters took this loss very hard and each suffered greatly. Years later one of the sisters, then the mother of six small children, was devastated when a police officer appeared at her door to inform her that her husband had been killed in an accident. My friend told me that immediately she felt that old familiar feeling of when her sister was taken so unexpectedly. She told me that the first thing she did this time was fall on her knees and plead with the Lord to help her view this with different eyes, to have the strength to carry on, etc. She testified to me how much this changed this loss of someone she loved so deeply. This experience of my friend, Karen, really changed my life and I try to always remember it.

I have thought of this example of someone who acted proactively, she reached through the darkness into the light. She controlled the light switch and made a conscience decision to choose the light. By going towards the light she was able to find the silver lining in her experiences and she successfully went on with her life being filled with faith and knowing that she was not alone. Of course she had her difficult days, but she decided to remain in the light. This gift of agency to choose that option, is as powerful as the faith that has sustained her all of these years. And I believe that faith goes much farther than just having a positive attitude. Faith allows us to literally draw on the powers of heaven.

When I face difficult challenges in my life I try to remember my friend's example, I try to go to the edge of the darkness, reach out and take the Lord's hand. I have always found it to be there. He waits there lovingly and patiently until I am ready to flip the switch and then I am filled with his light. When I look up, he reaches down and pulls me up.

Greg Olson~Artist

We each have our own switch and they all work the same way. Up is for the light and down is for the lack of it. The more we switch it on the easier it gets. The more it is on, the sweeter all of life's experiences get, even the not so wonderful ones. In the light they take on a different perspective. Bathed in the illuminating light of his love we can see the blessing of even the most wretched things. Although we don't seek out those times, when they come, if we turn the light on, we can see more clearly and learn from them.

It is a powerful reality that we do, indeed, have the choice to make decisions as to how the course of things will go for us in those exact moments. I cannot think of a single incidence when this practice does not or would not apply. No matter how overwhelming, no matter how small. Hold on to the light switch for dear life!

(Reprise: originally posted 11/2009)