Let Your Light Shine

The following excerpt is from the New York Times opinion column. It was written by novelist Jonathan Safran as part of a commencement address at Middlebury College. His thoughts are interesting and eye opening as to the state of our current culture. “A couple of weeks ago I saw a stranger crying in public. I was in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood, waiting to meet a friend for breakfast. I arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early and was sitting on the bench outside scrolling through my contacts list. A girl, maybe fifteen, was sitting on the bench opposite me, crying into her phone. I heard her say, ‘I know; I know; I know;’ over and over again. What did she know? Had she done something wrong? Was she being comforted? Then she said, ‘Mama, I know!’ and the tears came harder. What was her mother telling her? Never to stay out all night again? That everybody fails? Is it possible that no one was on the other end of the call, and that the girl was merely rehearsing a difficult conversation? ‘Mama, I know,’ she said, and hung up, placing her phone on her lap. I was faced with a choice: I could interject myself into her life, or I could respect the boundaries between us. Intervening might make her feel worse or be inappropriate. But then, it might ease her pain or be helpful in some straight-forward logistical way. An affluent neighborhood at the beginning of the day is not the same as a dangerous one as night is falling. And I was me, not someone else. There was a lot of human computing to be done. It is harder to intervene than no to, but it is vastly harder to choose to do either than to retreat into the scrolling names of one’s contact list, or whatever one’s iDistraction happens to be” As human beings we often find ourselves distracted by so many things. Especially today in our technological society we are often distracted by email, the Internet, text messaging, etc. And what we find is that in our society we have lost the sense of interaction.

“You don’t get much sunshine in here, do you?” remarked a woman to an elevator op­erator as she entered a large department store. “Only what you bring in,” replied the eleva­tor operator. “Some folks carry enough sun­shine around with them to light others up a bit,” she replied. That’s absolutely true! We can take sun­shine with us - a grateful word, an under­standing look, a kind act of service into the life of another, a well-worded note, or a sin­cere greeting from a happy face. All of us are aware of the dark, gloomy days in which we live. One writer put it this way, “Anyone who is looking for a problem just hasn’t been paying attention!” The cynic says, “There is no hope!” The atheist says, “There is no God!” The Lord says, “Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). The Christian life is a life reflecting the light of Je­sus. Even while reading this article, you may be tired and a little “down in the dumps,” but remembering to bring some thoughtful sun­shine into the life of another. The only sun­shine that a lot of people will ever see will be what “YOU BRING IN!”

[Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16] While that may be all right for some, for the Christian the inability to interact with others can be disastrous. Jesus commanded His disciples to “Go,” to “go into the world” and teach, proclaim, baptize, and make disciples. Such things require interaction. Jesus is relying on His disciples to talk to those who are lost (Luke 19:10) - to tell others about sin (Romans 3:23; 6:23) - and to show them the path that leads to eternal life (Mathew 7:13-14). In our society of cell phones and computers, with all the usefulness those things bring they can also become a distraction that keeps us from doing our duties as Christians and could come at the cost of a soul in the last day.