Shining Light in Dark Places

by John V. Upton, Executive Director

While traveling back from a meeting out of state, I rented an audio tape containing the testimonies of survivors of World War II.  I’m a history lover and the testimonies of French and Cretan resistance soldiers sounded interesting.  There was one man’s story that particularly caught my attention.  He was Alexander Popaderos, a Cretan resident during the Nazi occupation.  He shared his family’s story before a live audience, and his account was recorded on the tape.  At the end, he asked if there were any questions, and there was a long silence.  Finally, someone from the audience shouted out: “What’s the meaning of life?”  The crowd laughed and you could tell everyone was preparing to leave when Popaderos responded: “Wait, I’ll answer your question.”

He pulled something out of his wallet and described it for all to hear.  What he produced was a very small round mirror, about the size of a quarter.  He said: “When I was a boy during the war, one day I was walking along the road and found some shattered pieces of a mirror.  A German motorcycle had crashed in that place.  I kept the largest of the pieces and this is it.  By scratching it against a stone, I found I could make it into this round shape.  I began to play with it as a toy.  I was fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun could never reach.  It would reflect into deep holes, crevices, and dark closets.  It became a game for me to get light into some of the most inaccessible places.”

“I kept that little mirror as I grew up, and I would take it out at idle moments and continue the challenge of getting light into dark places.  It’s a great game.  But as I became a man, I began to understand it was not just a child’s game, but a symbol of what I was to do with my life.  I am not the light, nor am I the source of the light.  But the light is there!  And it will shine in many dark places if I reflect it.  I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know.  Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into dark places in the world, into the darkened hearts of some human beings.  This is the meaning of my life.” 

“Then,” the commentator said, “he took the mirror and carefully aimed it so it caught the rays streaming through the window and focused the light onto the faces of the audience, and then he focused it again upon their folded hands.”

This is actually Isaiah 60!  “Arise; shine, for your light has come.  Darkness covers the earth.  Thick darkness blankets the people.  But the glory of God is risen on you!  Nations will come to the brightness of your rising.  You will see and you will be radiant!”

What great words with which to begin the New Year: “Get up and Shine!”

This is my prayer for all Virginia Baptists:

“God deliver us from pathetic concerns and set us free for concerns that are big enough.  Keep our mirrors lifted to you—give us a call—help us this year to do a brighter and more obedient thing than we have yet done.  Teach us to rise and shine for our light has come.  Praises in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we raise, Amen.”