“Once in a while, you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.” These words are from the Grateful Dead song Scarlet Begonias. And isn’t that true, that from time-to-time we really are able to see things clearly as they are, not clouded over by our busyness and distractions? When we stop to think about it, this comes as “gift” to us, grace. Occasionally we get shown the light. It happens to us.
The poet and singer Leonard Cohen reminded us that life is fractured, broken. But that is precisely where the light gets through. “There is a crack, a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.” Those are lyrics from his song Anthem.
The moments of clarity are reassuring. It’s good to see things as they are, and not be deceived or living in an illusion. The light heals our unsettledness and shines in the darkness of a troubled world. The light brings fairness and justice, harmony.
The first chapter of John’s gospel in the New Testament affirms: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” This is God’s light in Christ that shines in a darkened world.
