At this time of year as the days grow shorter and shorter, it just seems to me that there isn’t enough time to get things done. I mean clocks have changed from daylight savings time to Central Standard time where I live, so in addition to days becoming short, said day light is moved back an hour. Instead of getting dark at 5:45 in the afternoon, the sun is setting at 4:45. I know it’s not that big of a deal, but I sometimes feel that a lot of “daylight chores” have to be done in the middle of the night. Any outside exercising requires a headlamp and reflective garments. In colder climates, additional clothing may be needed as the sun goes down and temperatures drop. Some people may even suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder which can cause extreme lethargy or even depression.
I find it particularly apropos that this week finds us in the last section of Reverend Junius Dotson’s Soul Reset text entitled Living in the Light as each day for the next month will bring us more literal darkness. Although Reverend Dotson is not talking about actual light of day, the metaphor is suitable as we examine Reverend Dotson’s ideas. Light as we know is a huge metaphor in the Bible and in the English Language, and probably many other languages as well. In Genesis 1verse 3 God starts creating the world by responding to the darkness over the deep sea. Let there be light!! God exclaims!!
Throughout the Bible, God himself often barges into a situation in the form of light. Both the Psalms and Isaiah are good examples.. Psalm 119:105 tells us “Your Word is a lamp before my feet and a light for my journey.” In other words, some say the Bible is a light that helps people find their way away from sin. Still others insist that God’s word is the light that shines on right and wrong and points to them to God. Isaiah 9:2 proclaims “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. Of those living in a pitch-dark land, light has dawned.” It is the presence of God.
In the Gospel of John the light metaphor is especially strong. In chapter 8, verse 12, Jesus tells us that He is the light of the world—he IS God—the source of all life and light.
I expect that Reverand Junius Dotson entitles the final chapter of his Soul Reset message, Living in the Light to clearly remind us to be fully exposed, fully authentic, and fully vulnerable before God. He reminds us throughout the text that our spiritual disciplines can keep us connected to God even during our most difficult seasons of darkness. A strong connection to God through spiritual disciplines will produce resilience in times of darkness so that we don’t break down or burn out.
Reverand Dotson goes on to share with us what Living in the Light should look like. He teaches us about vulnerability, authenticity, and how they lead to wholeness. The scripture he chooses is the most popular verse in the Bible, John 3:16. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him won’t perish but will have eternal life! Wow! That’s almost blinding with so much light. This verse promises eternal salvation in heaven someday in the future. But, Junius Dotson asks us to read further into verse 17, which he tells us reveals;.“even more about the character of God—God didn’t come to condemn us but to save us. God didn’t come to shame us into relationship. God didn’t send Jesus to condemn us and make us run and hide. No Jesus came to free us from shame and fear and sin and darkness. So why do shame, pain, and fear so often creep into our human lives to steal the light and separate us from God?
Reverend Dotson notes that fear and shame can lead people into a darkness that they can’t overcome. The emptiness, the solitude, the lack of light can dramatically alter a person’s perception of reality. He relates the story of a successful leader in his community who by all appearances was successful, happy and well adjusted. When Reverend Dotson heard of this man’s suicide, he felt shocked and haunted. The man had been so very good at hiding his pain, without revealing the portion of himself that needed help in coping with the stresses of life. Reverend Dotson explains that the “number-one cause of stress is living inconsistently with one’s own self-values.” Over time, the accumulation of living in ways contrary to the ways of Jesus can plunge us into a darkness that is so bleak there can seem to be no way out—no way to see the light. The shame of our unauthentic living can become too much for us to carry. Do we turn to God and our community and listen for His voice of forgiveness and hope, or do we try to carry our burden of shame alone? Do we keep quiet thinking we can solve it on our own? Do we run away and isolate? Reverend Dotson reminds us of the stories of Peter and Judas, who both betray Jesus during the time leading up to the crucifixion. While Peter returns to the community and feels the merciful power of God’s forgiveness, Judas isolates himself carrying his sin himself in a human way with the result of suicide.
Reverend Dotson continues, “Can you imagine the utter shame Peter felt after he heard that rooster crow? It must have been pretty difficult for him to carry such shame and self-loathing in those following hours, but he returned to his community where he somehow felt safe to share his shame, grief, and pain. Reverend Dotson encourages us to create communities where we can be vulnerable, transparent, and authentic. Too often, he says, our churches have become places of image-driven people who can’t be themselves to show both their successful side and their failures.
We must consider creating a community where people can feel safe to share their pain, where they can focus on Jesus, to see the light, like Peter did instead of going it alone like Judas. A place where our spiritual practices are so second nature that when pain, shame, fear, attempt to overwhelm us, we can connect to God, and be vulnerable enough to share our burdens and share our authentic selves.
In this chapter of Soul Reset, Reverend Dotson challenges us to practice the Spiritual Discipline of Confession. He continues that in many protestant denominations, confession has been overlooked for sometime. Now I know when some people hear the term confession, they imagine self-shaming or questioning whether having done or not done something was good or bad. This is not a self-loathing exercise. Reverand Dotson reminds us that to confess means to acknowledge that we are not perfect, that sin still exists in our lives. It is a tool we can use to become more perfected in love. It can be a big step on the journey toward healing. As a spiritual discipline, he suggests that we write a prayer of confession to God where we are vulnerable, name our sins, and our failures, and therefore begin to heal and accept God’s mercy. Through confession, the beauty of God’s mercy can become actualized. We can live into his immeasurable grace, accept our failures, and work towards wholeness.
Reverend Dotson’s last chapter in Soul Reset claims Living in the Light is our goal. Living into the grace and mercy of our living God, living whole fruitful lives connected to community, providing safe spaces for others, supporting authenticity, and encouraging vulnerability. He has reminded us throughout our Soul Reset Journey that our spiritual practices keep us connected to God and in the love of Jesus.
Darkness is tough though. It can sneak up on us with shame and pain when you least expect it. The darkness can be a deep void where it is hard to see God let alone reach out to him. A difficult interaction with someone at work, a child who fails a test or is ostracized by a group at school, a health emergency, an unexpected accident or death, a tree falling on your house that will cost more than you have to repair, minimization due an ethnic or gender issue, not to mention difficult human relationships at home and at work. The darkness is so pervasive in human life, and we fall back on our “Unspiritual Tendencies”
Reverend Dotson reminds us that by holding tight to our Spiritual Disciplines, we can remain living in the light even when darkness comes to call. When our so very human “Unspiritual Tendencies” can move us closer to the darkness and farther from the light, we can grab onto the Spiritual Practices that Reverand Dotson has been expounding all along.. Spiritual practices of Examen, Prayer, Fasting, Taking Care of our Bodies, Worship, and Confession will buoy us up like life preservers to keep us from drowning, steady ourselves like railings that keep us from falling, guard rails to keep us from fall off a cliff,. Our spiritual practices can even propel us forward like scaffolding allows us to climb a building mountain or ven a building, training wheels to keep us upright while learning to ride a bike. We can work to provide a community where people can feel comfortable with their failures and successes and not be ashamed to be authentic about either. We can share our spiritual practices so that everyone can have ways to get back into the light even on the darkest or shortest days, so that we can be Living in the Light!
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