You Are Exactly What Is Needed

Yesterday I shared a story told by Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen about the birthday of the world. The story relates how we, as human beings, are here to look for the hidden light in all people and events. And in doing so, help restore the innate wholeness of the world God created. 

Dr. Bremmen went on to say, this is “a very old story; it comes from the 14th century. And it’s a different way of looking at our power. It opens a sense of possibility. It’s not about healing the world by making a huge difference. It’s about healing the world that touches you, that’s around you. The world to which you have proximity. That’s where our power is. We heal the world one heart at a time.” 

She said, “Many people feel powerless in today’s situation….I think that we all feel that we’re not enough to make a difference, that we need to be more, somehow — either wealthier or more educated (younger/ older) or, somehow or other, different than the people we are. But according to this story, we are exactly what’s needed.” 

And to just wonder about that a little, what if we were exactly what’s needed? What then? How would I live if I was exactly what’s needed to heal the world? 

Maybe the idea here is not just to pray for peace… but to learn to forgive, and to live in peace within my own house, within my own neighborhood, my own church… Maybe it’s not just to pray for the lonely neighbor, but to visit. Not just to advocate for justice, but to think about what I buy and what I don’t buy… Not just to pray for unity, but to seek to understand the other.

And maybe it’s to ask: Where are the tears that need to be dried? Where are the divisions that need to be bridged? Where are the fractures within my grasp? In what ways can I be a minister and priest to those in my own life? How can I draw out the light, bring out the light right here, right now?

So one last story. A man was having trouble with his car late one evening. He made it to a small garage. A mechanic was there and he popped the hood and began to examine the engine. A helper stood by, directing the beams of a powerful flashlight into the recesses under the hood.

However, at one point the helper got distracted and turned away and in doing so inadvertently turned off the light. The mechanic looked up, and with good-humored impatience exclaimed: “Shine your light! What are you here for anyway?”

There’s something to think about in that question. What do we think we are here for?

Let us pray: Help us, Holy God, to notice the in-breaking light, to lift it up, to name it, to rejoice in it, and to reflect it. Amen.