Article August 12, 1916 Issue

"Let your light so shine"

WALTER C. LANYON

THE Master's command to let our light shine is imperative; it does not ask us to produce the light, but rather informs us that the light already exists, and that it is ours to furnish a transparency in order that the light may shine. The command takes away any personal sense of effort in connection with letting the light shine, and brings out what Mrs. Eddy calls (Science and Health, p. 445) "the unlabored motion of the divine energy."

To let our light shine does not imply casting our pearls before swine or giving "that which is holy unto the dogs." It does not imply that we are to rush out into the storm of night with a lighted candle, seeking some lost ones calling for help, and thereby possibly having the tiny flame of faith snuffed out by their unbelief and our own lack of protection. Some one may ask, How then can we let our light so shine that it will be a help to men and at the same time be safe from the devastating storms of mortal mind, of hate, jealousy, revenge, and unbelief; be safe from the torrents of material belief that would drench and beat everything to the ground? Let us take for an illustration the lighthouse which stands in the midst of a raging sea, with its clear, strong light shining and warning men from the dangers of the rocks, yet in no danger of extinction by reason of the mighty blasts and storms. How does it do this? Naturally one would answer, By keeping its light protected.

Here, then, is our working basis if we are going to be like lighthouse keepers. On page 571 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy says, "Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you." What is it to be clad in the panoply of Love? Is it not an unselfing process which constantly says, "I can of mine own self do nothing," and listens for the "still small voice" of Truth to guide and direct? Is it not to know that all things are possible to God, and to realize that the "everlasting arms" are underneath and around us? It is to rest under the shadow of His wing and to lean on divine Love.

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