By Maria Sangeetha –
I am the light of the world (Jn 8:12)
I remember as a student with all my batchmates visiting the St. Peter’s cathedral at the Vatican. There was a particular stairway which looked rather nondescript. Someone mentioned that this would lead right to the top of the Cathedral from where one gets a bird’s eye view of the entire city. A classmate and I decided to check this out. We began our climb enthusiastically. But the stairway seemed endless. There were no windows by which we could mark our progress. We were getting tired. Moreover the passage was getting progressively narrower and darker, and the steps steeper.
As we were struggling our way up, a lady came down panting and puffing, saying “it was all a waste.” My companion instantly changed her mind and in spite of all my pleading, changed direction heading back to the ground, saying that since she was from Europe she could always come back again.
I continued my upward trudge because my case was very different! This was a once in a lifetime trip for me. I continued to climb and in just a few minutes I reached a rather dark portion which made me wonder if indeed it was a waste. I felt my way through that dark portion and in a matter of seconds I had reached the top of the cathedral and the view was absolutely breathtaking! It was worth the climb. That darkest portion turned out to be the turning point at the end of the stairway that opened to the entrance of the viewpoint.
The Bible places great value on endurance: “You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what is promised” (Heb 10:36). Scripture reveals that God is ready are desiring to give us every grace, even those that are beyond our asking and imagination. The one thing required of us is that we do not give up.
There is a fascinating children’s story of a magic lamp. It revolves around a boy named Aladdin who gets hold of a lamp from a magic cave. Each time he rubs the lamp, the genie appears. This genie is a powerful spirit that gets for Aladdin all that he wishes. Through the genie’s services Aladdin destroys his enemies, marries a princess and gains great wealth and ultimately becomes the king. This folktale in fact gives a good insight into what lies deeply embedded in the human psyche. A sad reality is how we tend to approach God like He is a genie who should make all our dreams for life come true instantly. If Aladdin’s genie were to appear and tell us that instead of making 3 wishes we could make 33 wishes, we would have the list ready in an instant. We go to pray, hoping God could perform like the genie. When god does not, we get discouraged and anxious.
Jesus explains that the key to effective prayer is not so much about a formulae or method of prayer as it is about not giving up. While speaking of the great power of prayer He insists on “the necessity to pray always without getting discouraged” (Lk 18:1). Those who ceaselessly pray will definitely have their reward. “Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night?” (Lk 18:7, 8). This is why our enemy Satan will try everything to get us discouraged and give up. Discouragement is the most often used weapon of Satan.
For example, when we begin a spiritual journey making a commitment to pray, there could be days when we fail. Satan will jump in to whisper to our ears that it is impossible for us to keep the discipline. He will tell us “It was all a waste.” If we heed that voice of discouragement we will abandon our spiritual ascent. This holds good in every venture, every commitment and in fact everything worthwhile that we take up.
Scripture gives us the key of holiness “Though the righteous man falls seven times (read that as several times), they rise again, but the wicked stumble from only one mishap” (Prov 24:16). To give up striving for the goal is to give in to wickedness. Jesus assures us, “Whoever endures to the end will be saved” (Mt 10:22).
How does one gain the stamina to endure? St. Paul describing his spiritual journey says, “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me” (2 Tim 4:7). Paul had the vision of the crown awaiting him. This vision gave him the winning stamina. How do we acquire such a vision that will help us the last journey, lead us in the right direction and secure us the reward?
The human eye is provided for vision. It is a highly sophisticated optical system and the second most complex organ of the body after the brain. This sense organ is so important that the Lord says “The eye is the lamp of the body” (Mt 6:22). This is true not because it emits light but because it, like a window, channels light to human perception. The eye detects light and converts it into impulses that are conveyed to the brain. It has the capacity to identify about ten million colours and to give an understanding of depth and space. However sophisticated and intricate the formation of our eye is, for it to function, it is totally dependent on an external and crucial factor. And that is LIGHT. I can have healthy eyes but if there is no light, my eyes are disabled. The greater the light, the greater the clarity of vision. I n other words it is light which empowers the eyes.
God has blessed us with sophisticated systems of understanding, reasoning and intelligence. So when we have a problem we have a method of tackling it. We focus all our attention on the problem. We analyse it from every angle and intelligently work out solutions. Invariably we come to realise that in the real issues of life human logic and abilities are limited. We get frustrated at failure and eventually depressed.
The Bible advises us, “Trust in the Lord with all your hart and lean not on your own intelligence. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your path” (Prov 3:4). This does not imply that we ignore our abilities but to place our entire trust in God knowing He will not abandon us.
When we are tackling our way through the maze of our many problems, Jesus offers Himself to us saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12). If we ignore this offer, however well-educated or equipped we are, we would still be functioning in darkness. The absence of light is darkness. This is a fearful situation that renders us helpless. When we walk in darkness, we are bound to fall, we do not see the way and we do not know where we are headed. What we do in darkness is futile. We could have the best people around us, the best gifts within us and yet when there is no light we can never appreciate and understand what we have and we cannot realise our potential.
On the other hand the assurance of the Lord that when we follow Him, conforming our life to the word of God, we will have the ‘light of life.’ This will give us the stamina, the confidence and the enthusiasm to work harder and rise repeatedly to continue the upward journey until we receive the crown awaiting us.
Maria Sangeetha Sanjeevi is a Catholic lay minister serving at the Divine Retreat Centre since 2002. She is the Program Director for English programs of the Divine-Goodness TV. She coordinates the Divine Youth ministry. She is part of the retreat services in the preaching and counselling ministries. She hails from Chennai from where she did her post-graduation. After doing her Media Studies at Lyons, France, she joined the Divine Retreat Centre.