I went to mass at noon yesterday and the responsorial psalm caught my attention. The psalm was taken from Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for You are with me.” As I reflect on this verse, I was reminded by God’s light and I asked myself three questions: What is light? What is our light? Who is our light?
What is light?
If a child asks me what light is, I would probably say that light is something we use to make things visible. It seems right, but is this really what the definition of light? It is quite challenging to define light. It’s one of those things that you know what it is, but it’s very difficult to explain. According to the book of Genesis, the universe was covered in darkness until God created light. Darkness is the absence of light, but light is not simply just the absence of darkness; it is a symbol of God’s grace.
What is our light?
God created us in His own image and likeness. If light is a symbol of God’s grace, and we are products of His grace, then we ourselves should be symbols of light; symbols of His light. If I were to compare human beings with something, it would be stars. Stars, which are usually visible at night, have their own shines. Despite the amount of stars in the universe, they are still unable to provide enough light to rule out darkness. These stars just become dots of light in the night sky.
Our life is like the journey of a star through night and day. We should be symbols of His light, but most of the time, we tend to just show our own personal light especially when we are faced with struggles, like a star depending on its own shine to light up the night sky. Sometimes, it feels so hopeless, but we should remember that there’s always a morning to come. There are times when we may feel so tired, scared, and lost whenever we are in darkness, but when day comes, night goes away. When we allow His light to lead us, everything changes.
Who is our Light?
The sun is like the light of God, the light that can rule out darkness; the light that enables us to see the true beauty of life; the light that warms up the whole world. Without God’s light, we can never rule out darkness with our own personal lights. Same goes with life, we can never overcome an obstacle without the light of God, without the presence of God, without God’s grace. It is through His light that we feel His warm love. It is through Him that we can make things possible. It is through Him that we can walk out of darkness.
My life lately is quite literally like a journey of a star. There are various times where I tend to depend on my light, tiring myself out, burning myself out. There are so many times when I tend to just depend on my own strength, and not His strength. There are times when I would try to radiate my own light as if it’s going help me at all, but in reality, it’s just burning me out. This passage made me realize that it is not me, but Him. In fact, it was never about me. It was never about my own personal light, but His light.
The morning comes as the sun lights up the whole world. Just like in our lives, no matter how long our time in darkness is, God will always be there to help us and be our light. We will be able to rule out darkness when we allow His light to radiate to the whole world instead of our own personal lights. We are created to be symbols of His light, so we should be radiating His light, not ours.
“You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light.” – 2 Samuel 22:29
Praise God for such a beautiful insight, Queenie! This reminds me of something I read in the Salt and Light website! “The word ‘symbol’ derives from its Greek word, ‘symbolien’ which means ‘to bring together’.”
Our actions and every being of us are meant to bring together… To ‘shed light’ with the light of Christ 🙂 so to be a ‘symbol’ is to do just that 🙂