"This Little Light of Mine"

"This Little Light of Mine"

"This little light of mine.  I'm gonna let it shine.  Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine."

What a wonderfully powerful message in a few words.  The fact that some of the lines in the song are repeated make it even more powerful.   Let's think about it.

The word little implies something quite small.  We might even think of little as insignificant.  What could possibly be powerful in anything that is little?  Does something have to be large to be important or meaningful?  When you add "this" in front of little, it means it belongs to you and you alone.  This light.  This part of you or me that has the ability to shine out of us into the world around us is far from little.  It is huge.  This light may be contained in a small package, but it does what light always does.  It illuminates the darkness.

This light has the power to change lives.  The wonderful thing about this is we all have this light.  We all have the ability to shine wherever we are  each moment in our day.  We control the power switch that is our light.  We can decide to let it shine, or we can hide it under a bushel.  Now, that would be such a shame, wouldn't it?  The light that belongs to us has great power.  However, that power must be turned on.  When I walk into a dark room in my home, I flip that switch and allow the light to flood the room.  We must make the same decision about our personal light.  We can leave it off or turn it on.

It is possible that we forget to turn our own light on.  Life happens.  We become discouraged.  Things don't turn out as we wish.  We get bogged down with all the challenges that cross our paths.  When these things occur, it is easy to forget to let our light shine.  We hardly have the strength to move through our own lives let alone offer our light to another soul.  Darkness extinguishes our light.  We know that it is still within us,  but the dimmer switch has turned our light down to its lowest setting.

Then one day something or someone happens.  We feel a lift in our spirits.  We see the world and all the people through new eyes.  Our personal light switch is on.  The dark lifts, and the light enters.  We feel light and giddy and happy.  We want that wonderful feeling to stay with us forever.  The light that is within us becomes our constant companion.  We offer it to everyone.  We want to let it shine. The sweetness of life circles us and drives out the dark.  Can it remain like this forever?  Probably not.  We may experience an occasional dim moment, but we can adjust our power switch and move back into the light.

Just think what the world would be like if everyone let their light shine.  Think of the love and joy that would penetrate every part of our lives.  Think of the care we would give to one another.  Think of the help we could be to those who cross our paths.  Imagine if for one day everyone in the world, or in your town, or on your block let all the light they possess shine.  I can almost feel the difference that would make in a world that is beaten down with disasters and hurts.  One day.  One day to let our light shine.

How powerful the words of  that song are.  The second sentence is an imperative sentence.  It has an implied subject which is "you."  You let it shine.  You let it shine.  You let it shine.  Of course, it means me, too.  It commands each of us to reach for the light that belongs to us and share it with the world.  Our world is defined as the place we live, the places we go, the people we meet.  It means to shine in our place on this planet.

Even a little light brightens the darkness.  So, if you find yourself thinking your light isn't very bright, let it shine anyway.  Give it a chance to brighten another's space.  Give it the opportunity to flow out of you and into the world.  You may never know how your light helped another.  Your simple act of turning the power of your light on may make all the difference in how another adjusts their own light.

My friends, let's let it shine.  Everywhere.  All the time.  Let's brighten the world where we live and work.  Let's gift others with our light.  Let's shine.  Shine.  Shine.