One Light that Shines Brighter with Others

 

As we explore the idea of giftedness, many of us were taught as children not to promote ourselves.  My grandmother would say, “Well, someone is getting too big for his britches.”  In other words, don’t step into the spotlight, don’t bring attention to yourself, stay on the sidelines silently.  In kinder terms, “go along to get along.”  At the same time, God crafts you with unique gifts for the good of the world.  You are the only you there is or will ever be.  We hold these two truths in tension that you are called to shine your light AND you are called to combine your light with others for a blaze of grace and love brighter than our individual candle.  For me, this is what we practice in worship each week.  I can’t play the organ or piano.  I can’t be a whole choir singing all parts.  I can’t produce the beautiful sound of a congregational song or feel what my opening prayer sounds like/evokes in my soul when we all join our diverse voices together.  The invitation of faith is to consider how you are uniquely created in God’s image and invited into the beauty of community.  To be sure, community is demanding and difficult.  Annoyance, hurt, and frustration are the price we pay for relationships that provide love, acceptance, and affirmation.  We can Google an answer to almost any question (regardless of whether the information spit back at us in less than a second is true or trustworthy), but Google can’t hold my hand when I weep or laugh with me at a lame joke in worship.  And dig deeper because you were not fashioned or formed in a vacuum.  You had parents, mentors, teachers, fellow students, and random people who showed up in your life (perhaps for no other reason than to annoy you and teach you how not to be in the world).  In the coming weeks, we will explore more about what the people and places of your life gave you for better or worse.  But for today, ponder who first celebrated your giftedness?  Who encouraged you along the path as a youth or at your first job?  Who, today, is still helping you grow in the ways you share and shine your light?  May each of us celebrate the great cloud of witnesses past and present who are helping us grow into the image of God right here and now.