Light and Love - November 30
Today’s Readings: The Feast of St. Andrew
AM: Psalm 34; Isaiah 49:1-6; 1 Corinthians 4:1-16
PM: Psalm 96, 100; Isaiah 55:1-5; John 1:35-42
Someone told me this week about their spiritual practice and mindset for living: to breathe in light and breathe out love. Absorbing God’s radiance and warmth as the source of inspiration sounds like a robust way to fill one’s lungs with oxygen and one’s spirit with hope. Then, in gratitude, the complementary response is to exhale God’s abiding and honest love to all. Choosing to approach the day in this way sets her in a posture to live fully into God’s grace and generosity.
The mantra of breathing in light and breathing out love is simple in concept and very difficult in application. I pondered a tense interaction that transpired earlier in the week. En route to someone’s house in Highland Park, a fire engine was blocking the road. I could not pass. Just before I backed up, a black sedan pulled in behind me. I waited a moment. I tried backing out, but I kept brushing up against a curb and it was really tight to get past his car. Then, a fire marshal vehicle pulled up, with lights on. I was able to move my vehicle forward for the fire department personnel to get to the scene. I rolled down my window to signal the driver of the black car to pull forward or to back up, so that I could get out more easily. He did not budge.
It did not appear that the fire truck situation would be cleared quickly and I had a pastoral visit to make at someone’s home. This was delaying my arrival even more. I felt trapped and in quite a quandary. After waiting and wondering, I decided to get out of my car and ask the man if he would please move over so that I could get by. He looked at me and shook his head, “No.” He then turned his head away from me. I gestured again. He pulled down his car’s visor so that he could not see me from where I was standing outside his vehicle. It was the most bizarre impasse.
Rattled, I surveyed the gap between our cars and went back to my car. I tried again to extricate my vehicle, backing up tenuously and missing his Honda by mere inches. I turned around and went a different way to the destination. Later that day, I heard the “breathe in light, breathe out love” mantra. I fell short of that mindset in the tension in Highland Park. I felt stress and a lack of understanding. I am still befuddled by the driver of that black Honda.
The reading from Isaiah 49 appointed for this morning reminded me of the centering mantra of light and love. God says to the prophet Isaiah on behalf of all Israel, “I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (v. 6b) The Lord sees that the people who have lived through exile and return are an inspiration in their testimony. Their story of hardship and hope is one that can illumine the hearts of others. It is a story to be told to generations of people who also find themselves in spaces of darkness and hopelessness. And even in those places where trees are cut to the ground, God’s love and strength is present as new shoots spring forth from stumps. The salvific promise of Jehovah does not waver; it spreads.
Friends, that hope and love spread through us some days, and always with God’s help. Whether the mantra of “breathe in light and breathe out love” is easy or beyond consideration, know that God is our strength and our constant companion, no matter what.
Katherine+
Questions for Reflection
When have you felt trapped, at an impasse? How did you respond? What helped you get through?
Daily Challenge
Sit and contemplate what breathing in God's light and breathing out God's love looks like for you today. Then, try to live into this mantra for a day. Journal about how it went. Tell someone about your experiences - successes and failures!