Salty Lightness

My sons are adorable....and mischeivous. I've been with them since they were single cells and as a result I can read them like a book. They think this is because I have superpowers which include bionic hearing, eyes in the back of my head, and a "super-bark" like the one in "Bolt." Though I confess that years of vocal training has left me with the ability to project through layers and layers of sheetrock and insulation, I am otherwise an ordinary mortal.

It is my total and irreversable immersion into their lives and thus into the world of boys that has given them the illusion of my mind reading capabilities. In the world of boys, everything can and will be weaponized or used for military campaigns. So when your son asks if he can borrow duct tape a simple, "yes", "no" or "what are you going to do with it?" will not suffice. What might be done with the duct tape must be anticipated and forbidden before "yes" or "no" is even determined. If you've correctly guessed that little sister's favorite stuffed bear was caught committing treason and is to be arrested (with duct tape performing the role of shackles) and tried, then forbidding the use of duct tape on humans, animals, stuffed animals and toys will prevent disaster. A cardinal rule that emerges from having three boys close in age is: Never give a boy anything before a thorough examination of its possible uses. If permission is granted, follow up with a recon mission to ensure their creativity has not outwitted yours.

Thus, when my six year old son asked to use my flashlight I ticked off the list of contraband applications. I handed it over to him only after warning that it was not to be used as a sword, gun, grenade, or (since it was bedtime) to sneak into his brother's room to scare him in the middle of the night. He looked at me with all the sincerity he could fit into his enormous brown eyes and told me that he was afraid of the dark and simply wanted to sleep with the flashlight on for protection. He walked away with it clutched tightly to his chest knowing that if he turned it on, that small light would be all he'd need to drive away the dark.

The Bible has a lot to say about light and dark. In John 1:5 (NLT) says, "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it."

This fact - that light always extinguishes dark, and dark never extinguishes light - is what had my son clutching the flashlight like a lifeline. No matter how deep the dark fell, with his light he could see.

In Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV) Jesus says, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Just as He had warned against salt loosing it's flavor, so now Jesus warns of lights which are hidden and kept from shining. It would be ridiculous to light a candle only to hide it away so that it can't be seen, or so that it draws no attention to itself. It would be ridiculous for my son to ask for a flashlight, for fear of the darkness yet never turn it on and remain in fear. Such a scenario is illogical for light is meant to be seen - meant to expel the dark.

But if Jesus warned us it is for a reason. There must be something within the Christian heart that leans toward a resistance to truly embrace our identity and be the light while darkness falls. As culture races in a given direction, with all its philosophies and fine arguments which mock and marginalize the salt and light of the Scripture, perhaps we grow afraid, embarrassed, insecure, or unresolved in our salty lightness. The overwhelming expanse of the universe in its ebony isolates us and leaves us feeling outnumbered and vulnerable. At which point we face the cross roads about which the Beatitudes warn us. We retain our saltiness or we loose it; we let our light shine, or we hide it and blend in with the dark.

In Phillipians 2:15-16 (NIV) Paul teaches us to, "...become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life..."

At times we may feel like lonely, tiny stars in a vast midnight sky whose majority overrules, but cannot overpower. If we are born of the Spirit we have the light of Christ in us. Don't hide it. As the song says, "let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!" At least you, if no one else, will be able to see in the dark.