Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.

The Sermon on the Mount does not say that the disciples are to become the salt, that they are to become like a city on a hill or make themselves a light amid the darkness of the world. They are all those things.  And because the disciple are those things,  they are, we are, I am  expected to manifest what it means when Jesus says: “Let your light so shine before men.”

How is this done?

It begins with a little honest.

Not only do we have to admit that we are light and salt.

We’re also called to live in the light.

But we tend to have an overly romantic idea of what that should mean. We tend to think that to live in the light means that there should be a kind of special sunshine inside of us, a divine glow in our conscience, a sunny joy inside us that makes is constantly want to praise God.  But that’s unreal.

To live in the light means to live in honesty, pure and simple, to be transparent, to not have part of us hidden as a dark secret.

I work with priest and folks in Spiritual Direction, fairly regularly.  I tell everyone, who will listen.  If you do not have someone in your life that you can be honest about everything and anything, then you are in trouble.

I have a couple of people in my life that do know everything, that nothing is hidden, I need for my health and well-being for nothing to be hidden in the dark, for what is hidden cannot be redeemed, only when it is in the light can it be redeemed.

Living in the light—Spiritual Health lies in honesty and transparency.  For our spiritual well-being and redemption we need to be able to bring all things to the light.  A litmus test to living in the light.

• To live in the light is to be able always to tell our loves ones where we are and what we are doing.

• To live in the light is not have to worry if someone traces what websites we have visited.

• To live in the light is to not be anxious if someone in the family finds our files unlocked.

• To live in the light is to be able to let those we live with listen to what’s inside our cell-phones, see what’s inside our emails, and know who’s on our speed-dial.

• To live in the light is to have a confessor and to be able to tell that person what we struggle with, without having to hide anything.

• To live in the light is to live in such a way that, for those who know us, our lives are an open book.

Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly father.