Being the dim light of love in the world
Timeless advice from King and John the Baptist
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In his sermon entitled "Loving Your Enemies," Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tells the story of riding in the car with his brother one night on the way back to Atlanta from Chattanooga, Tennessee.
King notes that other drivers were "discourteous" on this particular evening, with many driving straight at them with their bright lights on. His brother grew more and more frustrated and finally proclaimed that he would also turn on his bright lights at that next "discourteous" driver, vowing to "pour them on in all of their power."
King admonished his brother, telling him that would produce too much light on the road, ensuring the "mutual destruction" of both drivers. King says he told his brother: "Somebody got to have some sense on this highway."
Sadly, that's a message we still need to hear today. We desperately need somebody to have some sense of this "highway of history," as King calls it, because what we all seem to be doing in this moment is turning on our bright lights – blinding others and ourselves to the mutual destruction that we are inflicting on one another and this nation.
What this world needs, King says, are those who are willing to "turn on the dim and beautiful and powerful lights of love," before "the whole of our civilization will be plunged into the abyss of destruction. […] "[We]," King continues, "must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love."
What we've seen transpire in our country over the past few years -- from the election of Donald Trump, the insurrection of January 6, 2021, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, to the ongoing lies and conspiracy theories that divide us as a people -- are happening because most of us are not willing to turn off our bright light of ego and fear in favor of the dim light of love that allows us to see the path forward, together.
I think a story from the gospel of Matthew about John the Baptist can help us find our way forward. In Matthew 3:7-8, John calls the Pharisees and the Sadducees who came to him for baptism a "brood of vipers." These were the people who wore their righteousness as a banner – who kept their bright lights of piousness shining in the faces of others, blinding them – and most certainly themselves – to their own reckless and ego-led behaviors.
John gives them, and us, the prescription we still need today to find unity: He tells them simply: "Bear fruit worthy of repentance."
What is repentance?
What does that mean, exactly? Well, perhaps we should define our terms. What is repentance, after all? The dictionary definition means to "express regret or remorse" for some word or deed you have put out into the world. The Greek word used by John in this passage is metanoia, which simply means to change your mind – or turn around and go in another direction. In the metaphysical world, repentance is about returning to your right mind – that state of unity instead of separation.
Remember, John is excoriating these religious leaders of his day for wanting to look pious without actually repenting. It's easy for us to put ourselves in the position of John, accusing others of acting all spiritual and mouthing spiritual words and ideas without actually living into them. That is, of course, our ego talking. It loves to take John's role of listing all the spiritual shortcomings of those around us.
However, we are more like those falsely pious leaders than the truly righteous John. He's telling these leaders exactly what Lesson 71 in the Workbook of A Course in Miracles invites us to learn: "Only God's plan for salvation will work."
What is salvation?
Well, let's go back and define our new term. What is "salvation"? In the orthodox Christian view, it's about swearing your allegiance to Jesus as your savior, but both John and A Course, I believe, have a different view. Salvation is simply the undoing of our separation – it is the willingness to dim our bright light of ego that keeps us in our tribes and factions, and instead seek to become that warm, inviting light of love in the world.
This idea is easy to scoff at, of course. I don't blame anyone who has been angry at what has transpired in the US since 2016. Our sense of separation has been exacerbated by our national leadership and the collective ego that wants to assure our mutual destruction.
This is the ego's insane plan for salvation – through our grievances. The ego, the lesson reads, "maintains that, if someone else spoke or acted differently, if some external circumstance or event were changed, you would be saved. Thus, the source of salvation is constantly perceived as outside yourself."
Here's the truth: There is no truth out there. The truth is only found within – and we can only find it by laying aside our grievances, dimming our lights of fear and hatred, and shining the dim light of love. Which, of course, does not mean that we simply allow people to run amuck and commit acts of insurrection or violence – no matter how justified they may feel.
What it does mean is this: We cannot allow ourselves to hate them. And if we find that black spot of hatred, fear, and division within our hearts – we must repent. We must change our minds. We must get back into our right mind and follow the only path of salvation that will work – shining that dim light of love into the world.
We do that by bearing fruit that is worthy of our repentance, which means: We cannot give lip service to loving our enemies or holding hands and singing kumbaya together. We must bear fruit that changes the world – fruit that grows from within us because we have rooted out all the sources of anger, fear, and hatred within our own hearts.
What is our role?
What John was telling those self-pious religious leaders of his day was this: Don't just say you want unity over separation. Do something worthy in the world to prove that you have changed the only mind you truly can – your own. It's only when we each make that revolution from within will the bright light of hatred dim and the world will once again be able to see how to build a better frame together that includes all of us by ending the separation.
I have to admit that after the insurrection at the Capitol three years ago, I was in a blind rage, and I was filled with hatred for one man in particular. As I reviewed Dr. King's writings, though, this line stopped me short: "The person who hates you most has some good in him."
It wasn't an invitation to remember that the person I hate the most has some good in them. It was the other way around. King invites us to another perspective, just as John does – to not see ourselves as the righteous ones and others as the evil doers. We, like the religious leaders John condemned, love to see ourselves as the good guys, the ones in the white hats riding to rescue of the world.
As long as we allow our ego to shine brightly, we're just as blind as the rest of the world – and there are people out there who hate us, for no other reason than what we believe and how we view the world. It's easy to return hate for hate, King teaches. But we must bear fruit worthy of repentance, which means we must be the ones in this world who are committed – no matter what – to seeing the good in everyone – whether they hate us, or we hate them.
How do we do that? We understand that a change of mind – a change of heart – is necessary – not a change by those we blame for the state of the world – but within ourselves. We have to be the ones with sense on the highway of history who are willing to dim our blinding light of ego and instead glow with the dim light of love.
Will we do it every moment? Of course not. The ego's siren song to shine brightly and belligerently will always be with us unless we become truly enlightened beings. Until then, though, we must try – we must bear fruit worthy of repentance, or we're just stuck in the ego that wants to be all spiritual without doing the hard work of becoming that channel for Love in the world.
Begin with these 3 questions
How do we begin? I recommend reading all of Lesson 71 in the workbook of A Course. It contains an exercise on how to bear fruit worthy of repentance, because it asks us to surrender our will to the Holy in every moment.
The lesson invites us to begin our day by asking the Holy these three questions: "What would You have me do?" "Where would You have me go?" and, "What would You have me say, and to whom?" This lesson asks us to prepare our hearts to meet everyone on the level of spirit – that place where there is no separation. These three questions, when asked in a spirit of love and surrender, will help you see "the image of God" in everyone, as King says.
If we can do that – if we can "rise to the level of love," as King says, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak and act out those words of love, reconciliation, unity, and peace through us in every moment, I guarantee we will all bear fruit worthy of our repentance. We must remember, as King says, love is not sentimental.
"Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all [people]," he says. "It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system."
Let this be our pledge this week and every week, to bear fruit worthy of our repentance as we touch the divine Love within ourselves and shine its dim light into the world so we can all rise to the level of love. We are all blinded by the bright lights of this egoic system – but we must be the ones who will be willing to have some sense on this highway of history.
We are not fighting against other people, as the Apostle Paul has said, but against principalities and powers. These systems are ultimately under our control, though, because we used our collective egos to create them in the first place. Let us bear fruit worthy of repentance by working together from this point forward to dismantle the ego's system for salvation and replace it with a holy system that sees the goodness within every person. I invite you turn off the bright light of your grievances and "turn on the dim and beautiful and powerful lights of love," because that is the only plan that will unite us and save us all.
Music for the Journey:
“One” - U2
Looking for a guest speaker at your spiritual community? Contact me!
On Sunday, January 14, 2024, I spoke at the Jubilee! Community in Asheville, NC. Catch the sermon below and stay tuned for my original song “Dance Anyway.” (The World Beat Band is awesome!):
Upcoming speaking engagements:
January 28, 2024: Unitarian Church in Charleston, Charleston, SC. Online viewing is available.
February 4, 2024: Clayton Memorial Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Newberry, SC - 11 a.m.
About the Motley Mystic:
The Motley Mystic is an online community for people who have realized that the truth speaks with many voices. There is no one religion, philosophy, institution, or dogma that captures the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. No one needs to swear allegiance to one line of thought or belief to discern Truth, because Love is the only thing that’s real. That’s what we explore at the Motley Mystic - all the tools and strategies we need to remove our barriers to Love and live fully as our true Divine Self.
Candace Chellew is the founder of Motley Mystic as well as Jubilee! Circle, an interfaith spiritual community in Columbia, S.C. She is also the author of Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians published in 2008 by Jossey-Bass and the founder and senior editor emeritus of Whosoever: An Online Magazine for LGBTQ People of Faith. She is also a musician and avid animal lover.