We sing, “I want to be in the light as You are in the light.” ”I want to focus on the light in our Easter reading, the light of the world coming from the tomb. The song, “In the Light,” resounded in my head. We have multiple images when we hear or see the word “light”. To appreciate “light” we must recognize darkness and the images that darkness conjures up in the mind. Scientifically, darkness is the absence of light. As Americans and worldwide citizens we have been in darkness for over a year, some of us more than others through sickness, death, financial insecurities, loneliness, depression, anxiety, isolation, doubt, and despair.
There are many references to light in scripture. The word appears some 260 times in the Bible. “Light” in the Bible refers to holiness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom, grace and hope. Our prayer of St Francis offers the contrast: hatred versus love; doubt to faith; despair to hope, and where there is darkness, light. John 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it.”
My intercessory prayers were ceaseless during this past year. It seemed like every time I opened my email or a text, there was someone new in need of prayer. A friend shared with me that her list became so long she had to write down names, placed her hand over the list and asked God to include all.
Now, as I wake each morning I see light shining through my windows more than I saw a month ago and definitely more than two months ago. The March solstice marks the beginning of spring. Spring is a time of new beginnings. Easter follows the sun/son bringing light into the world. Our world is in bloom, full of abundant richness, beauty and blessings. As the days of light increase, we can feel resurrection in the air from less Covid-19 cases and deaths, to a recovering economy, to vaccines that will save lives, stimulus checks, unemployment and housing relief to those mostly in need. There is more activity as venues begin to reopen. People are finding jobs. Children are returning to school. People are returning to church; vaccinated friends can now gather and hug each other. For me, it is the ability to travel. For those who know me well, Willie Nelson says it best: “I can’t wait to get on the road again.” Hope is in the air.
To walk in the light is to align ourselves with the word of God. Psalm 119:105. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light onto my path. John 1: 7 states: “But, if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.” Ephesians 5:8, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”
Most of us have heard the expression, “There is a light at the end of the tunnel”. That light is the Hope of the Risen Lord. What we experience on Easter morning is transition from a dark tomb to an open tomb turning the darkness into light. The tomb now becomes a vessel for the light of the world—the light of resurrection.
“All I want is to be in the Light.”