Watch Where You Shine the Light

 “Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights" – Psalm 148

The world we live in is an angry world. We live in an angry day and age. I don’t know if it has ever been NOT that way, but if there ever was a peaceful time, this ain’t it. I talked last time about breaking chains that divide us, and as unlikely as that seemed to be two weeks ago, events have transpired to make it seem even less likely today.

Don’t worry, though. I don’t do punditry. As a theologian, my job is to shine light into dark spaces. It’s like when I was a child helping my dad work on the car. My job was to hold the flashlight and, as a child, I seldom put the beam where he wanted it, but his fingers were experienced, so as long as the light was in the ballpark, he could do what he was doing and the job got done well enough to keep the car operational for another week.

I think that’s a lot of what priests and pastors do. We shine the light as best we can, and the beam may not land exactly where the people – the laity – the workers – want it, but it’s close enough. Right?

There are times I am overwhelmed by the news, of course. My blood pressure is excellent (honestly) and my healthcare suppliers are always pleased and amazed. However, when I read the news, I can feel it go straight up from whack to Paddy Whack! The temptation is to stop watching and reading the news, but I don’t believe God has called us to withdraw from the world, but to hold on to it even tighter.

Every now and then, children growing up will find themselves overcome with grief, anger, or frustration. Some parents may invite them to stop crying “or I’ll give you something to cry about.” Those parents and guardians do exist, sad to say. What I found more effective, though, was gently pulling the child in for a warm, loving embrace, and just absorbing their angst as long as it might take them to “get it out of their system.” 

Kids need to know they can feel what they feel. Part of a healthy relationship is being open and honest with what’s going on. As I said last time, the world often operates on a transactional level: What I can do for you, and what you can do for me, and what’s it going to cost? Transactional living leads to holding our cards close to the vest, and not knowing who can be trusted and, worst of all, thinking our value is related to the value others place on us.

“Not so among you,” says Jesus. “You are not to lord it over one another like the heathens.”

And that’s the key. So much anger and frustration arises out of our need to be in control, and control is an illusion. I can’t control the weather, or the way my team plays. I can’t control dictators, judges, or politicians. I certainly can’t control the traffic or the people around me. Truth be told, I have a hard enough time controlling myself.

Jesus is the light of the world. Reversing roles, he points the light and wants our fingers to gain experience doing the job that needs to be done. Our role is to be honest and faithful, but more than that, to be loving and kind.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus and his disciples find themselves one day passing through an area where the people have rejected him and his message. James and John are miffed and ask Jesus if he wants them to call down fire from heaven to consume that town and those people. That’s their testosterone talking. Jesus (I assume he did an eye-roll at that moment) answered them, saying simply, “No.”

Like a traffic cop, Jesus swings the flashlight and says, “There’s nothing to see here. Just keep moving, folks.”

That is good advice when we find we’ve gotten our panties in a twist. Take a deep, cleansing breath, offer praise to God like the psalmist, and move along – wherever you are in this, our flash-lit valley.

Keith Axberg writes on matters concerning life and faith. Author of: Who the Blazes is Jesus? Good News for a Vulgar World (available through Amazon in Print and e-book)