Shining Like the Sun

“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.” – Matthew 13:43

This reminds me of a conversion kind of experience Thomas Merton wrote about in “Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander.” He was standing at an intersection in Louisville, Kentucky and suddenly felt like he loved all the people walking around him. He no longer felt separate from them. He felt such joy being part of the human race, and suddenly knew that all people had a place within them that was like a diamond, the place where God dwells. He wrote that “… There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun …”

We are all walking around shining like the sun, but we are not aware of it. Instead we see the weak places, the wounds, the things we do wrong, the mistakes we make.

While we need to check our hearts out and repent of our sins, we also need to remember that we are human. God made us this way. He knows who we are.

We forget that we are created by the Lord in His image. And it is that image we need to keep in our minds and our hearts. We are children of God. We need to remind ourselves and each other.

And if we take the time to listen … listen to His Word, in scripture, in our hearts, in the lives of the saints, in our Eucharistic liturgy, then we can hear that we are loved and cherished by God.

And then maybe someday, we will see and come to know what Merton knew that day in Louisville.

We are all walking around shining like the sun.

Lord, I long to be one of those righteous that shines like the sun in your kingdom. Help me to listen. Help me to hear your words of love and encouragement. Help me to remember that you know me and made me and love me. Amen.