I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. —John 8:12
CAC faculty member James Finley poetically envisions how Jesus is the light of the world:
Jesus reveals himself to us as the light of the world and lets us know that anyone who follows him will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.
This is what I think this light is: Jesus said, “Fear not; I’m with you always” (see Matthew 28:20). He didn’t say, “Don’t be afraid because I’ll personally see to it that nothing unfair or cruel or traumatizing happens to you.” Look what happened to him. He was crucified. God is a presence that protects us from nothing, even as God unexplainably sustains us in all things. Salvation is experientially dropping down into the intimate realization of that in this way.
We live on and on in the ongoing fragility and brokenness of ourselves, but we don’t walk in the darkness that surrounds us. Rather, we live in the light that transcends, permeates, and unexplainably shines through that darkness. We walk in the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not grasp it. Although the darkness cannot grasp it, even the darkness can realize it’s being unexplainably illumined by light.
Likewise, sometimes we can get disheartened about ourselves, like Paul’s thorn in the flesh. While we need to do our best to get past the things that are hurtful to myself and others, can I place my faith in the love that’s infinitely in love with me and my inability to get past the stumbling place? As a matter of fact, the thorn in the flesh, the stumbling place, may be my teacher where I depend on the mercy of God that is oceanic and endless in all directions.
In a similar way, sometimes when we look at the world, we can get disheartened by the outcome of the world because the intensity and density closes off experiential access to this love that utterly transcends and unexplainably permeates the very suffering of the world itself, unexplainably and forever this way.
This then is our walk: How can I learn to be healed from what hinders me from being ever more habitually established in the divine light that shines, transcends, and utterly permeates the broken edges of my life? The very ragged edges of my heart are the configurations of the light that shines through the broken places as mercy, as amazement, and as gratitude.
Although I can’t experience it all the time, I know the importance of the daily rendezvous with God, the quiet space in which I become ever more receptively vulnerable to being instilled by this light that permeates and guides me through my days. Hopefully, this poetic expression then will be a way of helping us to sit with and be present to this light, shining into our own lives in the midst of the unresolved matters of our hearts.
Reference:
Adapted from James Finley, 2025 Daily Meditations Theme: Being Salt and Light, Center for Action and Contemplation, video, 12:05.
Image credit and inspiration: Zach Lucero, untitled (detail), 2021, photo, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. Like this flame ignites another, contemplative action spreads quietly yet powerfully, igniting hearts to brighten the world with love.
Story from Our Community:
I’ve read countless spiritual books, but sometimes I feel lost. Now, I realize that the answers I seek are within me and in the love, mercy, light, and wisdom that already exist. I’m ready to join forces with fellow seekers and trust that, together, we’ll find our way. I’m committed to becoming a source of love, salt, and light. I’m grateful for the journey, and with an open heart, I’ll follow my path with confidence, knowing that is the way for me.
—B.C.
