Skip to footer

The transforming power of divine light

A Christian Science perspective.

  • By Janet Hegarty

While out walking one day, I noticed a stand of crab apple trees in the distance. To my surprise, several branches in one of the trees appeared to be on fire. Curious, I walked closer to the tree, where I discovered a thin, dull, gray ribbon twisted in the branches. Flames appeared to be dancing on the ribbon. Looking around for an explanation, I saw the sun was low in the sky, and its light was directly hitting the ribbon. The sunlight, reflected on the ribbon, created flickering flares of light that looked like flames.

Deeply impressed by the power of that light to transform the ribbon, I thought about the spiritual implications of what I’d seen. This idea from Mary Baker Eddy’s book “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” guided my reasoning: “Man, in the likeness of his Maker, reflects the central light of being, the invisible God” (p. 305). To me, the flares of light reflected on the ribbon illustrate the powerful effect of this relationship with God. Just as the sunlight caused the dull ribbon to manifest an extraordinary effect, God, the actuating light of our being, illuminates us, revealing our spiritual capabilities.

This idea appealed to me as a possible solution to a demanding situation at work. I was involved in a project that required intense work for several days each month. At these times, the workload was so heavy it seemed impossible to complete the work on time. The stress was unbearable.

After my encounter with the crab apple tree, I resolved to welcome God’s transforming light into my work experience. As the work piled up, I mentally rejected the false concept of myself as a limited personality stretched way beyond my capabilities and affirmed my connection with God, the all-powerful source of unlimited intelligence and ability.

I frequently stopped to acknowledge that the light of God was revealing its expansive power in me in the same way the sunlight had revealed the reflective qualities of the lowly ribbon. Soon, new ideas of how to work more efficiently came to mind, and the inspiration I needed to keep the project fresh flowed smoothly. Continuing to pray in the months that followed, I met deadlines without stress, and I even enjoyed the challenge of doing the work.

Jesus’ healing works, described in the Bible, demonstrate the power of God to transform lives. This active relationship between God and man is called the Christ. St. Paul, a follower of Jesus who confronted daunting challenges in his ministry, said, “Christ gives me the strength to face anything” (Philippians 4:13, Contemporary English Version). The light of the Christ is ever available for us to draw on. Welcome God’s transforming light into your day, and discover the extraordinary abilities the Christ will reveal.

God, who first ordered
‘light to shine in darkness,'
has flooded our hearts with his light.
II Corinthians 4:6, J.B. Phillips

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to The transforming power of divine light
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/A-Christian-Science-Perspective/2012/0817/The-transforming-power-of-divine-light
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe