This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!
Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine!
During the August session retreat, the refrain of this song emerged as our guiding theme for the coming year. The words are simple, clear, and challenging. They are easy to learn by heart--there's no need for hymnals or a song sheet--and yet these are also words that we as a church hope to truly learn to hold in our hearts in the coming year.
Think of all the images of light in scripture--the very first words that we hear God speak are these: "Let there be light!" God spoke to Moses from a burning bush; God illumined the Israelites' journey out of slavery in Egypt as a pillar of fire. The light of a star guided the wise men to Bethlehem. The author of the Gospel of John tells us that God's light shines in the darkness and that Jesus is the light of the world; in Matthew we hear Jesus describing the disciples as the light of the world. In Acts we read about the vivid birth of the church when the Holy Spirit came to the people in tongues of fire and in Romans Paul urges us to "put on the armor of light."
Jesus challenges us to let our light shine before other people, not so that we will be praised, but so that God will be.
Let your light shine!
Pastor Laura