A Little Light, Please

 Greetings, we’ve arrived in London, taken in some of the sights, met up with old friends and hopefully, as you’re reading this, are in Cardiff, Wales.  We will be staying with a nice guy we met in our Australian church who said, “You should come see me!”  and so we did!  Better be careful about throwing around invites.

And then next Tuesday, we’re boarding yet another cruise, this one not as luxurious, that gets us around the Baltic and gives us a chance to see some cities and friends that have been left unattended by us.   

But on this last cruise, I decided, “When I grow up, I want to be a luminary!"  If you're like me, you don't even know what that means, so let me 'enlighten' you. Webster says a 'luminary' is a person who inspires or influences others, especially one prominent in a particular sphere." So there you are, I'm sure I'm speaking to a large group of 'luminaries' now.

This cruise, in its aspiration of being a 'high end' line, has included 4 or 5' 'luminaries' who take turns pontificating about their subjects.  I will admit, it's been interesting and certainly helped while away the time.  I've learned more than I’ve wanted to about Spanish Cooking, Moon launches and travel writing.   

But I’m also realising that I may be a bit of a snob who doesn’t wish to be fooled. I had to turn off a documentary about climbing Mt Fuji in Japan because it was making me mad. In an effort to make it compelling, it was filming the HIGH DRAMA of a team of Japanese who were literally risking life and limb to reach the summit.  I have climbed Mt Fuji twice, even in some terrible weather, and I guarantee, these folks are making this stuff up.  Sure, it’s a hard climb but if I can do it, obviously it’s not that big of a deal. 

Another National Geographic show was highlighting a white guy who becomes such a trusted native in some jungle that he’s leading a team, half naked and barefoot, with a hand rigged stick, to kill the fierce wild boar, (with them looking on, along with the videographers, in awe). Seriously……… what can I say?

And so I want to be a luminary.  I want to impress others with something I pretend to know, so that they sit spellbound at my feet in wonder. And what, you say, would I possibly know about anything?  That’s a tough question.  Until I think of what Paul had to say in Philippians 3:10,

“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,”

We’ve given it lots of names over the years: witness, disciple, proclaimer, testifier, servant, etc etc. But what it comes down to is this: each and every one of us, by virtue of our status as His children, have been called to go out and “illuminate” the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Having His Spirit dwelling in you, you are already two steps ahead of most of the world. You, and I’m including those in the category that we would call “kids”, know more theology that the guy next door. You ARE a “luminary”. So go out there and illuminate!

Brightly,

Marsha