Walking In The Light

December is often referred to as the “Season of Light”. From the beginning of time & across the vast majority of faith & wisdom traditions, “Light” has been associated with the Divine, Holy Being; God, our Creator. Light was the

first thing God created & itself is often used as a metaphor for God, who illuminates all seasons of life for us. There is nothing concrete about light; Divine or physical. Whether it is “Divine Light” which refers to God, or physical light, it is rather illusive, yet we all know what light does. Light illuminates, physically, emotionally, & spiritually. We need light to live. In fact with very few exceptions there would be no life without light. As in the presence of physical light, as we journey through our various seasons of life we can see things more clearly. We can walk forward in our lives in a more confident & balanced way, with less hesitation or fear, avoiding obstacles & thus be able to choose the safest pathway regardless of our circumstances. The same may be said for walking in the
“Divine Light of God’s Holy presence”.

It has been said: “Where there is light, there must be shadow, where there is shadow there must be light. There is not shadow without light & not light without shadow.” Though we can not avoid the shadow seasons of life, we can choose how we are going to journey through them. The view that we hold in any particular season, whether a season of light or of shadow, effects the state of our mind, body & spirit. When we chose to stay in the shadow season it effects our whole health negatively & at the very least delays healing. When we chose to journey in the Light, it effects our whole health in positive ways & promotes healing of our mind, body & spirit.

How we think, speak & act reflects our state of being & primary view of living as either in a season of Light or a season of shadows. The more we abide in states of being of Light or of shadow, the stronger that state of being & view of our life will become. Thoughts, words & actions reflecting God’s Light promote our health & wellbeing. Thoughts, words & actions that are not of Light, interfere with our health, wellbeing & healing. The ongoing challenge & goal in all seasons of life is to grow ever closer to God by strengthening our spirit, for a strong spirit that reflects balance & equanimity promotes healthy living of our whole being; mind, body & spirit. We meet that challenge by continually moving toward the Light, ever closer to God & by reflecting that Light outward to others. Below are listed some examples of states of being that align us with Light or shadows.

LIGHT states of being

• Hopefulness
• Faithfulness
• Peacefulness
• Joyfulness
• Love
• Generosity
• Thoughtfulness
• Compassion
• Inclusiveness
• Gratefulness
• Trusting
• Trustworthiness
• Forgiving
• Harmonious
• Grace
• Comforting to others

SHADOW states of being

• Despair
• Faithlessness
• Restlessness
• Sadness
• Indifference
• Withholding
• Uncaring
• Coldness
• Exclusionary
• Ungratefulness
• Untrusting
• Untrustworthy
• Unforgiving
• Divisive
• Judging & Unforgiving
• Upsetting to others

God, our Creator of Light, illuminates all of life & shows us the pathway to whole health & wellbeing. Though we cannot avoid shadows, we can chose to walk in the Light by abiding in the states of being listed above & reflecting outward, a balanced life of gratitude, grace, joy & equanimity. The Light of our Divine God is inextinguishable. “This Light shines in the darkness & the darkness can not over come it.”

~By Rev Kathryn Bindig MDiv. MS; Spiritual Consultant with assistance from Rich Muscatello; Director of Business Development & Strategy