“You are the light of the world. You don’t build a city on a hill, then try to hide it, do you?
You don’t light a lamp, then put it under a bushel basket, do you?
No, you set it on a stand where it gives light to all in the house.
In the same way, your light must shine before others so that they may see your good acts and give praise to your Abba God in heaven.”
(Matthew 5:14-16, The Inclusive Bible)

I just finished a thought-provoking book, Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart by Brian McLaren.  A few UCC clergy colleagues recommended this book, and it seemed (well) pertinent given the state of (well) everything.  McLaren “engages with the catastrophic failure of both our religious and political leaders to address the dominant realities of our time: ecological overshoot, economic injustice, and the increasing likelihood of civilizational collapse.”*  It’s one of those books that provides a framework for some of what we are seeing and experiencing in our life and time. 

One of the ideas shared that I found especially helpful came from an anthropologist named Sarah Kendzior.  She wrote, “We are heading into dark times, and you need to be your own light. Do not accept brutality and cruelty as normal even if it is sanctioned. Protect the vulnerable and encourage the afraid. If you are brave, stand up for others. If you cannot be brave—and it is often hard to be brave—be kind.”** 

I read this quote and it immediately resonated. 
Yes!  This is it exactly, I thought.
We need to be our own light. 
Jesus told us YOU are the light of the world, after all. 
We can be brave. 
And if we can’t be brave? 
At the very least we can be kind. 

Though there is more to the story. 
Perhaps what’s missing is the power of shining our individual light within a community, shining our light with and for one another. 
There are certainly times when I cannot be brave. 
But then I see someone else being brave, someone else shining their light, and that helps kindle my own light. 
Sometimes my light is shining brightly, and that helps someone else feel brave.  
We need each other!

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.”
We can be our own light. 
When we do that, we help be the light for one another. 
And together?
We can be the light of the whole world. 

Love,
Pastor Lauren

*Brian McLaren, Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart, dust jacket.
**Sarah Kendzior as quoted in Life After Doom, pg. 239.

Photo by Mike Dierken on Unsplash

Thursday Thoughts 2/6/25