Do you recall when you used a piece of glass to focus a beam of light onto a creature make a rainbow on the ground? It seemed to amazing that what looked invisible suddenly could take on such an awesome transformation. The myriad of colours instantly appearing.
Today, we may not be so amazed. We have so many optical gadgets which split light and send it in diverse directions ‘at the speed of light’, we might forget to pause and reflect, in wonder.
In Matthews Gospel (Matthew 5: 13-20) this week we read of salt that needs to lose its saltiness and “let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven.“
Light Transformed
I recall at school being amazed that the definition of time itself was defined by light. A partiuclar form of electromagnetic radiation emitted by a Caesium atom, at a particular frequency, defines one second.
Light can energise, it can impart knowledge (Quantum theory) and it can, in the ordinariness of life itself, open up ways to move onwards. So what does this mean to us today?
If we consider that rainbow created when a beam of light strikes a prism for example, we see all the different colours (wavelengths). The true beauty is exposed. Perhaps if we consider the Church as the beam of light, we may also be able to discern that we are one of those wavelengths or colours. Each particular colour is truly beautiful and needed to re-create that rainbow. Each person is truly and wonderfully made (Psalm 139).
We may use a particular colour for colouring in a picture, or dying some clothing, or emphasising some key word. They all play their own part in life.
End Result
Perhaps if we accepted that our own light is truly beautiful in its own right, we may be able to be in awe of the light of others.
I found the dialogue interesting and I enjoyed it