Being Magical Flashes of Light

“Fireflies, to me, are nighttime butterflies,
Dazzling the night with magical flashes of light.
When I see these teeny tiny sparks dart in the night,
I am overcome with a sense of comfort and calm,
Same as when a butterfly flutters
around me during the day.
I’m drawn to the dance of both astonishing critters.
They remind me of life.
They remind me of hope.”
― Melody Lee, Moon Gypsy

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is
not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you lightbearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand.
Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with
your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in
heaven.” Matthew 5:15-16 (Message Translation)

Dear Sisters and Brothers,
As we walked our dogs in the early evening last week, Michyl-Shannon exclaimed “Look! The fireflies are back!” Sure enough, as we walked on and as it became darker we could see more and
more of those delightful little insects. It was such a simple pleasure to look for their little flashes of light on the dark lawns of our neighborhood (we have no streetlights in our area.)

Growing up on the farm in Ohio, we called these delightful little creatures “lightning bugs” and we could spend hours chasing them around the yard and watching them dance across the fields
around the house. After years of living without fireflies in Southern California, I was delighted to see them again when we moved here to Texas.

Scientists tell us that the flashes of light are attempts to attract a mate. While it may seem to us that they are simply putting on a show for our personal delight, we are actually watching some hard work in process as each individual firefly is doing his best to propagate his species. (Apparently it is the males that are flying around trying to get noticed by the females who sit in the grass below and only return the flash of light if they see a pattern above that they like. Ahh…what we males won’t do to catch the eye of a lady…)

The fireflies are not trying to delight us; they don’t even know we are watching them and enjoying their show. They are just doing what they do in such a way that brings joy to our hearts as we catch them in action. I think that is something akin to what Jesus says we are to be doing with our lives. We are not meant to be showing off with our lights, but as we go about our daily lives and do good works for others along the way, people will notice and take delight in those little bursts of light in what can otherwise seem like a dark and scary world.

Poet Melody Lee says that these “tiny sparks” in the night fill her with a sense of comfort and calm, and I agree with her. And we can be similar sources of comfort as we shine; going about our business of honoring, serving, and witnessing to God and Christ by being of service to our sisters and brothers. It doesn’t have to be a bright spotlight for people to notice, even our smallest acts of kindness and grace will catch the eye and delight the hearts of those walking by.

Peace,
Pastor Layne