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Today’s
text
Reflection
I
am struck by a phrase, “Why not me?” It reflects a kind of Jesus-consciousness
even when the person is not at all religious or doesn’t think much about Jesus.
I
heard it again recently from television as a young man was being interviewed
about a charity he founded before he had reached his teens. The organization
works to free children in Asia from abusive
child-labor practices.
The
interviewer asked, “Why you?”
Looking
straight into the camera with complete conviction, he answered, “Why not me?”
I
have heard that reply before from people who have done something significant,
even something amazing that saves lives or eases the pains and needs of the world.
And
each time I cannot get it out of my mind. Why not me?
Most
often, the answer is because we … make that I … lack the consciousness that
Jesus offers.
You are light for the world. That means
‘I am light for the world.” Light is
in me. Light is my deepest identity, and
it is ready to shine out and glow in the darkness of a world that needs a
little more light.
There
is no maybe here, no suggestion that if I pray harder or put more effort into
it I will become light.
Jesus
turns us back to ourselves as if to say, “Wake up! Don’t you see who you are?
You are light, now, already. The light of my life is in you. It is already
there, so let it shine.”
This
is Jesus-consciousness, the awareness that the light of God is in us, whether
we acknowledge it or not, whether we are aware of it or not.
Jesus-consciousness
is about becoming aware of the light within ourselves that can shine in our
corner of the world to awaken joy and gratitude to God in those around us.
We
think far too little of ourselves because we do not know who we are. We are not convinced of our identity. We … you …
are light.
Never
again look at the struggles of the world, the pain of others that moves you and
ask, “Why me?”
People
of the light ask a different question.
Pr.
David L. Miller
