People Shining Like the Sun

The famous Trappist monk Thomas Merton had an Epiphany moment once in downtown Louisville.  

It was an ordinary Saturday afternoon, and Merton had some leave time from nearby Gethsemani Monastery, where he lived.  As usual, Merton was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of noise and frantic motion that’s typical of any downtown but which was so foreign to this contemplative man.   

But that afternoon he had an “epiphany,” a sudden realization of the divine glory of plain, ordinary folk.

Merton wrote of that revelatory moment: "I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun."

At least several times a year, I also see people walking around “shining like the sun.”  The men all look more regal, the women more angelic, the youth more lovely, the children more holy.  I catch little glimpses of the beauty and glory of plain, ordinary people.

It happens when they’re ‘on stage.’

I love events like the Variety Show and our children’s and youth musicals; everyone seems to glow in a lovelier way.  I just feel more humbled by their talent, more grateful for their initiative, more moved by their earnestness.  You – my ordinary fellow church-goers – reveal to us who you really are!  It’s a glorious thing, and I can’t explain it either.  (“It cannot be explained,” Merton said.)  But it’s true.  You just shine.

I don’t know if this makes any sense to you.  I’m sure you’ve had moments when you see you son or your daughter, your wife or your husband, in a different light.  You see beyond what they look like to who they really are. And it’s joyous, and poignant, and moving far beyond what anyone else sees in that same moment.

Our annual Variety Show is this weekend – Saturday evening at 7:00 and Sunday afternoon at 3:00.  It’s the creation of our own glorious Debbie Allred, entitled Library – The Musical!  It’s free, and there’s free food and free laughter, and free camaraderie for you to boot.

But most importantly of all – you too will see people “shining like the sun.”  Don’t miss it!

             Pastor Larry