Darkness and Light
There is a lot of discourse on good and evil these days.
"No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar, but on the lamp stand so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness. Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays." - Luke 11:33-36
One of the books we are reading in our Education for Ministry course is Theology: A Very Short Introduction, by David Ford.
In his chapter on evil, he talks about personal evil, the things we choose to do to hurt one another, and natural evil, the catastrophic events the world brings upon us, like tsunamis and earthquakes.
I have a problem with calling these things evil. Yes, they are disasters that have a devastating effect on people, but are they evil?
The world is not a stable environment. It is constantly active and much of that activity could have harmful effects. If we find ourselves in the path of a storm, we could lose our lives, or all our possessions.
But is the world evil? Is that what God created?
In today's reading, Jesus focuses on the body as the receptacle of light and/or darkness.
The choice is ours what we want to carry. Do we want to be a source of light in the world, or a haven for darkness.
Evil, I believe is an intention. As such, it is dependent upon us. We intend to do good or not, and while the choice of not doing good is not the same as doing bad, it has its roots in darkness.
Once we accept the light in our lives, it is hard, if not impossible, to bear ill intent toward others.
The challenge we have, though, is to stay in the light when darkness falls.
When bad things happen, we look for signs of good in the aftermath. It is our nature to do that, to help deal with the pain. The good we find can never justify the bad, but it helps us see light in the tunnel.
That is the gift God gave us. We may never understand why God's creation is so violent and dangerous. Perhaps it has to be to be self sustaining. But we can rest assured knowing He has given us the ability to love one another and help each other through the pain when darkness falls.
We have been given the light. It is up to us to let it shine for all to see.
If we don't, we will all stumble and fall.
More to come...