The Light of the World by Cherise

The Light of the World by Cherise

 

This is the story of 2 men and The Light of the World.

 

It is a world of darkness. But...high on a mountaintop, visible to all...is a Light.

The first man is struggling through the darkness. His goal is that Light on the mountaintop. It is so dark. He falls many times, but he gets up and keeps struggling. Once, when recovering himself after a bad fall, he looks around him and sees a small light off to his right. He looks from the bright light on the mountaintop to the small light nearby. And he thinks, “This small light is nothing compared to the big light on the mountaintop. I will keep going toward the big light.” At various times throughout his journey, he sees other small lights, but he ignores them, keeping his focus on his final objective.

Finally, after many falls and much suffering, he finds himself at the base of the mountain. Looking straight up, he can see the bright light. He begins to climb. The way is hard. His hands are bleeding. His feet are bleeding. He is scratched and bruised. But, at long last, he reaches the pinnacle. The Light! Oh, The Light! It is wonderful! From out of the Light steps Someone. The man does not know the name of this entity, but he knows that It must be wonderful since It lives here with the Light. He falls to his knees.

The entity, we will call It Spirit, comes up to the man, looks at him with compassion and love in Its eyes and gently raises him to his feet. “My child”, says Spirit, “I know that you have suffered much to reach the Light. But I want to show you something. Come.” And Spirit leads him to the edge where they can look down upon the whole world.

As the man's gaze sweeps over the world below his feet, he sees many small lights scattered throughout the dark world. Spirit then says, “You disdained these small lights as being unworthy of your attention. Yet, do you not know that All light comes from me and these many small lights are manifestations of My Light on the earth? What did you do to spread My Light? As you can see, there is still much darkness on the earth. The world has a great need of people to share the Light.”

The man was horrified at his selfishness and, falling to his knees again, he cried, “My Lord, what would you have me do?” Spirit replied, “You must return to earth and spread My Light. Do not force anyone to accept The Light. It is enough that you offer to share it. Some people have lived so long in darkness that they cannot stand the Light. It is to each person to decide for himself whether to accept The Light.” And so saying, Spirit sent the man back to the earth to begin his journey again.

The story of the second man is a very sad case as you will see. The second man is also struggling through the darkness. His goal is also The Light on the mountaintop. This man does not like the darkness so when he spots a smaller light in the distance, he heads toward it. After a time, he sees the small light growing nearer and redoubles his efforts to get to it. Finally, he approaches a small house which has a single candle glowing in the window. He knocks at the door. It is opened by a gentle looking person who invites him in. “Come, rest a while”, says this person. He enters and sees the one small candle glowing in the window, but many more unlit candles on the table. “When you have so many candles, why do you only light one?” he asks. “The others are for sharing,” comes the gentle reply.

The man rests and, when he says that he must continue his journey, the gentle person gives him a lit candle to light his way and a dozen more unlit candles. And so the man continues. The way is still difficult, but he now has the comfort of a small light to help him. Eventually the candle begins to burn low and the man is thinking about lighting another, when he sees another small light in the distance. Rather than waste a candle, he lets the other gutter out and travels a short distance in the darkness, stumbling several times, until he reaches the small light.

Again, he sees a small house with a single lit candle in the window. He knocks and upon entering, encounters much the same scenario as the first time. He sees many unlit candles and, after resting, his host offers him candles to take with him. He accepts and leaves, bearing one small light. He still has the candles from the first place and now he has more.

As he trudges along with his small light, he encounters a person who does not have a candle. “I see you have many candles,” the person says to him. “Will you spare one for me?” “No,” replies the man. “My journey is long and I need all these candles. Go find your own”. And the man hurries off , leaving the other person behind in the darkness. Eventually, this candle also begins to burn low, but rather than light another, the man decides to continue on without light. “Surely, I will come upon another house soon,” he thinks to himself. “Why waste a perfectly good candle?” This time it is a while before he arrives at the next house. He is weary and sore and accepts the hospitality as his due for his struggles. When he is ready to leave, he asks his host for more candles, even though he already has many. His host gladly gives him candles, but explains that they are not only to light his way, they are for sharing. The man only smiles as he takes the candles and leaves.

The man continues on his way, collecting more and more candles and becoming more and more burdened by the load, but he refuses to share any even though he meets many people during his journey who have no light. And so, he comes, in time, to the base of the mountain at the top of which is The Light of the World. But he is so burdened that he cannot climb the mountain. He tries, but his burden is great and he will not relinquish it.

As he is sitting at the base of the mountain, he sees someone approaching. He gathers all his candles together as if to protect them. He does not recognize Spirit, but Spirit recognizes him. “My son,” says Spirit. “Why are you sitting down here? The Light is up there,” and Spirit points to the top of the mountain. “I am too weary and heavy burdened to climb the mountain,” is his reply. Spirit says, “I will gladly share your burden and help you climb.” But the man, still not recognizing Spirit, refuses, saying, “No, I do not need help.” “At least put down your burden to that you may make the climb easier.” “No, no. I am fine. Go away. I do not need help.” And so, Spirit leaves the man sitting there at the base of the mountain of The Light of the World. Unable to leave his horde and unable to climb to The Light.

Now, let us return to the first man's story.

The first man is once again struggling through the darkness. His goal, just as it was on his first journey, is that Light on the mountaintop. It is so dark. He falls many times, but he gets up and keeps struggling. He looks around him and sees a small light off to his right. He looks from the bright light on the mountaintop to the small light nearby. This time, he goes toward the small light and comes upon a small house which has a single candle glowing in the window. He knocks at the door. It is opened by a gentle looking person who invites him in. “Come, rest a while”, says this person.

The man rests and, when he says that he must continue his journey, the gentle person gives him a lit candle to light his way and a dozen more unlit candles. And so the man continues. The way is still difficult, but he now has the comfort of a small light to help him.

Soon he encounters another person, but this person has no candle and so he lights one of his and gives it to the person as well as half of his unlit candles. Later he comes upon another person and, again, lights a candle and gives it to him and shares half of his remaining candles. He continues on this way until he has only the one lit candle in his hand.

About this time, he comes upon another small house with one candle glowing in the window. He knocks and enters. After resting, his own candle, which had guttered out, is replaced and his host gives him more unlit candles to take with him. As his journey continues toward The Light on the mountaintop, he meets more people who have no light and he shares with them. He also continues to meet others who share their candles with him. To every person he meets, he offers a candle, even when it is the only one he has. Many times, the person rejects his offer, but he does not force the Light upon them. He knows he can only guide and love. Not force.

After a lifetime, he again finds himself at the base of the mountain at the top of which is The Light of the World. He lifts his one remaining candle high and sees by its light that, behold! There is a golden stairway illuminated by its light. He climbs the golden stairway and, at the top, finds The Light of the World, again waiting for him. “My child, your struggles have been many and hard, but come and see what you have accomplished.” And, once again, Spirit leads him to the edge where they can look over the entire world. As his gaze sweeps across the earth, he stills sees much darkness, but one area seems to have more lights than elsewhere. The man points to that area. “My Lord,” he asks, “Why does that place have more lights than elsewhere?” “My child,” Spirit replies, “That is where you have been. Go now and rest. You have earned it.” “No, my Lord. I wish to go back. There is still too much work to do. Please send me to one of the dark places that I may spread your Light.” And so, at his request, the man went back to the earth again, to continue sharing and spreading The Light of the World.

What happened to the second man, you ask? He sits there still, at the base of the mountain of the Light of the World. Unwilling to release his burden and unable to climb. Let us pray for that poor, sad man.

by Cherise Martinez