Wednesday, February 25, 2015

My Abandoned Lights

Journeying ever more deeply into the will of God, I find doors and rooms and hallways I had not expected. One of these is what I'll call the room of abandoned lights.

What I think of as "my abandoned lights" are various ideas I embraced over the years, attitudes I once considered enlightening and empowering. In time, those lights proved to be no light at all.  

Some of these un-lights were initially dazzling. They appealed to my broadmindedness, that modern version of "sanctity" that basks in itpolitically corrected glow. There was no pesky death-to-self in the world of my abandoned lights. The Cross was not part of the scene. 'There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it leads to death.' (Proverbs 14:12)

By the grace of God, I cast my unlights aside when I met the One Who is Light Himself.   In time, I even began to feel that a large part of the task of a "cloistered heart" is to Carry the Fire  into darkness, as well as into areas of "artificial light." 

"We can make the mistake of trying to make hard truths so palatable," writes Dan Burke at Catholic Spiritual Direction, "that we end up presenting half-truths or even worse, untruths (implied or actual).... Yes, we can and must say 'come as you are'; but we must also proclaim that the God of Love who meets us where we are, loves us too much to leave us there.  He calls us to union with Him, where we will find the Truth that sets us free to know and live an abundant life in Him." 

For a look at some of the un-light we can be tempted to follow, check out this excellent link:

How the Carmelites Rescued Me From the New Age, by Anabelle Hazard  

"God is light; in Him there is no darkness." (1 John 1:5)

"The revelation of Your words sheds light, giving understanding to the simple." (Psalm 119:130)


 
 





 Painting: John Frederick Peto, Door with Lanterns

6 comments:

  1. I love this so much:" the room of abandoned light." I have many of these "lights" in my room. I love "there was no pesky death-to-self in the world of abandoned lights." What great insight and writing here. The deceptions of artificial lights I am familiar. We are kindred spirits indeed. Looking forward to reading the link about How the Carmelites Rescued Me From the New Age. Half-truths and un-truths are so deceptive at times. In the end why have we ever settled for them when we can embrace the brilliant-beyond-anything light and truth of our Lord? Wonderful post Nancy. Thank you for these truths you write so beautifully and honestly about....God Bless

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  2. It's embarrassing to look back on my life and see how full of myself I was, looking for truth everywhere but Truth itself. My abandoned lights have been confined to the junk heap.

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    1. MINE TOO, Barb. Thanks be to God, mine are in the junk heap too.

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  3. This is the most exquisite and refreshing site! It's like an oasis for me and I have it bookmarked on my favorites bar.

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