A Small Light

Let Your Little Light Shine

Fireflies at night have a beauty all of their own. In the pitch black nights of rural PEC their bursts of celebratory light give off a cry, “See me! Hear me roar!” A momentous, spontaneous singularity of life saying to us all, “Why don’t you come to the party? Let your little light shine and we will dance together until dawn!”

Joan Rater and Tony Phelan’s TV series A Small Light strikes a similar chord as it tells the story of Miep Gies who risked her life to shelter Anne Frank’s family from the Nazis for more than two years. She took up the challenge as a Dutch woman living in Amsterdam to protect her Jewish friends from the hatred of the fascist regime. She unrelentingly travelled about the city to gather food (including oranges for the children!) so the family of Otto Frank could survive in hiding.

Miep’s work for good was a daily feat. She accomplished it through little decisions, minute actions, that together saved a number of folk from certain death. Tiny steps for good—for the innocents—for the oppressed—for the other. Through her selfless actions Miep became a small light so that others might survive and see the light of day.

A Small Light has the power to stop us in our tracks and ask the question, ‘What About Me?’ Can I be a force for good in the world and not simply live for my own ego and end? Can I be a small light for aiding others and making the world a bit better for those who are hurting? It reminds me of Jesus’ exhortation from the Sermon On the Mount to “let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father/Mother in heaven.” As a child I sang the little chorus, “Let your little light shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine!”

Help me Lord to see and act for those who are marginalized for their good and your glory. Enable me to live a goodly life so that my small light may shine brightly and help illuminate the path for fellow travellers.