“You are the light of the world.”– Matthew 15:4
A recent college graduate was teaching third graders in a school located in Baltimore, Maryland. It was a tough school, and the teacher realized what a challenging life many of her students experienced. One class period she told her students, “We’re not going to do the math assignment today. Instead, I want everyone to draw a picture of their biggest dreams.”
The young teacher passed crayons and sheets of paper out to her students. The children started drawing pictures of what they wanted to be when they grew up. As the rest of the class was drawing, one young boy was sitting in the corner of the room doing nothing. His face had a blank and distant stare. Thirty minutes passed, and the young boy had not picked up a crayon. Then unexpectedly, his eyes lit up, and he started to draw.
When the class was over, the students handed in the drawings of their biggest dreams to their teacher. When the room was empty, she looked at the young boy’s drawing and realized it was a drawing of a pizza deliveryman. Concerned that this was his highest aspiration, she called the young boy's mother to tell her about his picture. When his mother heard what happened, she was not surprised. The boy’s mother explained that his uncle was the only man in her son’s life that was not on drugs or in jail. It just so happened that his uncle delivers pizzas.
One of the messages in that story is that people, whether young students or grown adults, will always reach for the highest possibility that they believe they can achieve. Ideally, there would be an environment where everyone can see their highest vision for their life. That vision will determine their future.
One of the pivotal determinants for how our life unfolds is how we identify ourselves. Therefore, it behooves us to remember our real identity described by Jesus the Christ - "Ye are the light that lights up every man and woman that comes into the world.” – John 1:9. The light represents the unlimited possibilities that are inherent in all of us. As that light, we want to see and identify with the highest vision we can see for ourselves. Like that young boy, the messages we accept help shape our self-concept and the direction of our life.
It is essential to know we cannot go beyond the image we have of ourselves. No matter what we may say we want, if we do not see ourselves as deserving of all the good the universe has to offer, we will not be successful. Even if one reaches a level of success, it will not last. Transforming our self-concept is integral in liberating ourselves from the conditions we do not want, or fulfilling the visions we want to achieve.
Let us embed our true identity in our hearts and minds - "We are the Light." When we do this, we align with our best selves and can achieve our highest good. In so doing, we become the Light in our world.
Peace and Blessings,
James