Dear Kaleid Ladies,
Light, life, and love to you today!
If you read these emails regularly, you know that this Epiphany season, we are talking about light. We’ve been reflecting on the rather astonishing reality that Jesus, who is the light of the world, gives those of us who follow him that same title. We, too, are the light of the world.
Reflection
Today we are reflecting (pun, intended!) on the fact that light gives us sight.
Have you ever noticed how many miracles in the Scriptures have to do with sight being restored? When John’s disciples come to Jesus, asking if he’s the one they are looking for or if they should expect a different Messiah, he tells them to report that, “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” Jesus headlines the description of his own ministry by talking about blindness being cured.
Human sight is one of God’s greatest gifts and highest priorities.
Jesus knows that we need to be able to see things to get along with any measure of confidence or independence in the world. He knows that blindness is a deeply debilitating human condition.
What about spiritual blindness? Isaiah 42:16 says, “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”
Have you ever noticed how we often don’t “see” things about ourselves until our spiritual blindness is cured from the outside-in…how we can’t do much to help ourselves see when we don’t even know that it is dark? In God’s abundant grace, sometimes we are aware of the love of Jesus touching our spiritually blind eyes, so that suddenly we have eyes to see things…beautiful things and painful things, habit things and heart things, new things and things that need to be made new. Spiritual sight comes as a gift when the light of God’s love shines in our hearts. At once, with the shocking grace of Epiphany, we are able to see what has been hidden in darkness. Praise God!
Some Light Prompts for You
Today, carve out five minutes and take the time to imagine being blind. Sit with your eyes closed and imagine having to feel your way through life with your other senses. What would be different for you, physically and emotionally, if you could not see? As you open your eyes, imagine the Light of the World inviting you to sight. Imagine that God wants you to see his presence in every visible expression of life that you encounter…creation, people, even in your own heart.
Or take time to reflect on areas of spiritual or emotional blindness where the light of God’s love has revealed truth to you and healed your heart. As you remember those places and give thanks, ask God for the grace to love others who may seem blind to you, so that they can be invited to healed sight by the Great Physician who is the Light, too.
Or maybe you just need a pithy quote for today. Sometimes we do, too. Here is a good one from T.S. Eliot:
Not the intense moment
Isolated, with no before and after,
But a lifetime burning in every moment.
May your moments today burn bright with the ability to see, to really see, the love that dispels darkness. And may you, in your ordinary moments, reflect rays of love-light to the world. Amen.
We love you.
Gratefully,
The Kaleid Team