There is light in all, and that light is you [God], by that light we all are lit.
*Guru Nanak. Poems from the Sikh Sacred Tradition. Trans. Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh.
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A Sufi story tells of the sun and a cave conversing ...
The sun did not understand what 'dark' and 'dank' meant. The cave did not understand what 'light' and 'clear' meant.
So, the sun and cave agreed to change places. The cave went up to the sun and said, "Wow! This is beyond wonderful!" Then, the cave said, "Now, come down and see where I've been living." The sun went down and said, "Gee, I don't see any difference."
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The sun signifies light. Light is luminous, clear, warms, and clarifies. Light suggests those qualities within us.
When you share intimately with a being of light, your body feels lighter, feels enlightened. During sharing, you may sense the environment becoming thinner, luminous, whether with one or a group.
As you draw closer to the Light, you become more aware of darkness and light. As well, you will be able to bring light into the darkness. You will learn to trust the power of the light. The writer of Philippians 2.15, in the Christian Scriptures, speaks of Jesus' followers in Philippi shining "like stars in the sky." Starlight penetrates the darkness. You can shine like a star.
The Gospel of John 1.5, of the Christian Bible, has, "And the light appears, radiant in the darkness, and the darkness did not take hold of it" (The Gospels. Trans. Sarah Ruden). "Take hold" has been read as "extinguish" or "comprehend." Most renditions take the former meaning, which fits the context best. Jesus (Greek, "it, him") is likely the referent in this prologue. Yet, if true of Jesus, it is so of anyone who embodies the same liminal Effulgence.
Immersed in Spirit, we become lightsome, being a light presence that no amount of dark presence - which is really non-presence, so an absence - can extinguish. We learn to trust the light, even as we find ourselves in contexts where darkness is intense.
We cannot take a day off spiritual self-care. Our spiritual self-nurture must be more of a priority than other basic needs, such as sleep, food, and drink. The world needs light. There is much darkness. Your light matters, yet, too, there is only one light. We are lamps. The light is the Light. As writes Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, "... that light is you [God]."
Let us be like the sun in our above story. The sun equally shines in all places - it can do no other. The nature of the sun is to shine. Your nature is to shine. Where the sun is, there is light, and plenty of it.
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
