Thought for the Week: The Light
Ian Kirk-Smith reflects on the Divine Spirit
The gospel of St John is concerned with the Divine Spirit becoming visible. This is why the theme of light is so important. It also gives an insight into where the divine can be found. John the Baptist says: ‘There standeth one among you, whom ye know not’, in other words, do not recognise. He is referring to Christ. Even John admits he ‘did not know him’. Does this mean that Christ was such an ordinary person that he went unnoticed? The divine nature of Christ was hidden in the ordinary. In the gospels we are familiar with the images of Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus. The story is set in the humblest of locations – a stable – with the most ordinary people. The Divine Spirit is revealed to us in disguise.
The phrase ‘there is that of God in everyone’ resonates with this story. Early Friends were drawn to John’s gospel and another phrase lodged in the Quaker imagination: ‘That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.’
This focus set many Friends apart from other Christians in the late seventeenth century. It prompted an emphasis on the Inward Light, the Light of Christ, or Christ within, and not on a historical figure – but on Christ as a Spirit of Love. It also led Friends to trust in personal experience rather than beliefs that were preached from a pulpit and handed down: possession and not profession was the key.
It was and is a radical vision. Imagine Christ is in the everyday – in the mundane activities of our lives. Imagine seeing the face of Christ in the face of members of your family, your friends, your neighbours, the beggar holding his hand out, the homeless person in a sleeping bag, the emigrant, the stranger – the poor and marginalised. Imagine if we did this, sincerely and humbly, every day. Perhaps we would see Christ where we least expect to see him.
Mother Teresa once said: ‘I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself: this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him.’
Could Christ also be in our suffering, our grief over the loss of a loved one, our worries, and our pain? Is this a burden or a gift that helps us empathise with others who have the same experience.
What does being a Friend mean? What does being a disciple mean? Is it some grand position or role – or is it a commitment based on a personal transformation: to live life in a certain way, see people in a certain way, and act in a certain way?
In this special edition of the Friend there are many individual contributions that touch on this theme – in prose and poetry. This emphasis on personal experience, and on seeking the divine in others, has been at the heart of the Friend throughout 2017 and will be at the heart of the magazine in 2018, when it celebrates its 175th birthday.
We are extremely grateful for the support given to the magazine by Friends – both as contributors and subscribers. The magazine could not survive without you. On behalf of all the staff and trustees may I thank you and wish you a restful break and a peaceful New Year.
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