I was listening recently to a programme on BBC Radio 4 about Homeboy Industries, a rehabilitation project in Los Angeles for former gang members. The project was set up by Father Greg Boyle, a Jesuit priest, and I was particularly struck by one quote attributed to him. “People don’t come here to become good. They come here to find that the goodness was there all along.”
People seem to struggle with sentiments like that In a world which likes to pigeon hole people as either good or bad. We struggle with the reality that all of us have a mixture of the ugly and the beautiful running through us.
I took this photograph of the Orwell Bridge one evening in August. The light was so inviting that I felt compelled to stop and cature the moment. Is it the same bridge? What’s your view of the Orwell Bridge? I can admire it from a technical perspective as I cross from one side of the river to the other – but a thing of beauty? If you’d asked me that question I would have described it as grey, dull and, yes, pretty ugly – until I saw it, that evening, in a different light and here’s the photographic proof.
From its opening words, John’s Gospel repeatedly describes Jesus as being light for the world. One purpose of that light is to show us the darkness of sin and where to plant our feet if we want to live God’s way. But there is more to his light than that. Jesus helps us see everything in a new light. Materially, like the bridge, things might remain the same but we are invited to see them differently.
Where we daily face things and situations that seem grey or dull or ugly to us, the light that Jesus brings can help us see hidden beauty within them. His light invites us to respond to them differently.
I can’t finish without asking you a personal question. Do you struggle to love or accept yourself? Where you might think of yourself as grey or dull or ugly, let the light and love of Jesus draw out the beauty that is in you, the beauty you just can’t see. His light is inviting you right now to respond differently and see yourself as he sees you.
Prayer: Shine, Jesus, shine and let there be light. Amen.