Dappled Light.

What we see as adults in the world is dappled light.

Scriptures, psalms, hymns, philosophy, literature, art, science.....
All are a mixture of light and darkness.

We are born into darkness, we know nothing.  And yet babies glow with an inner light.  Jesus said, "'Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.'"  Mark 10:15 (NRSV)

We learn from childhood to old age.

We see only fragments of light, often surrounded by darkness.

Sages glimpse the truth and expand on that.  St. Paul said, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face.  Now I know only in part, then I will know fully, even as I am fully known."  1 Corinthians 13:12 (NRSV)

Our job is to collect the fragments of light.

It has been said of spiritual experience that,  "The color of the water is that of its container" (Al-Junayd 14th century Sufi).

It is our job to separate the fragments of light from the shards of pottery that contain them.

Until we are in darkness no more.


(Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.)