SOTM 11: Enlightenment

13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:13-16

I would love to own an Olson Acoustic guitar, a beach house in Hawaii, and travel to Europe a couple of times a year. Maybe you would too. Very few people can really have whatever they want. But one of the great facts of life is that as fun as luxury is, the things in life that make life worth living--friends, relationships, health—-are all, more or less, equally accessible to all.

I would also love to be brilliant. Don’t get me wrong, I think I’m pretty smart. But I’m not brilliant--you know, C.S. Lewis brilliant. Mozart, Einstein, Weird Al brilliant. I’m just not. The Enlightenment era has tried to tell me that my deficiency in intelligence is really a great detriment. Only the wise men and scholars REALLY know what’s going on. And for those of us who can’t hang, well too bad. But Jesus tells us that true wisdom is accessible to all. The true “enlightenment” occurs when his followers reveal the goodness of our heavenly Father through their loving behavior.