John 1: 1-4, NRSV: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.”

God calls us to see not the darkness in others, or in ourselves, but rather the light, the truth of the Word from which all of us are made.

The truth is that the same union of God and Word that became incarnate in Jesus, also was the generative power that made you. And, it made them too. Think of the “them” you least associate with God. Who do you least associate with you? They also were made in God, and none of us were made with a greater or lesser measure of the Word.

All of us were made in and through God, and all of us have the light of God within us – the light of all people. We cannot shake that. We can’t quit it or run from it. We can deny it. We can act contrary to it. But we cannot change the light of God within us. Denying and running from the light doesn’t change or diminish it, any more than looking at day and calling it night would make it so.

As you go out into your day, look for that light. It’s there in everyone you will meet. And it’s in you. Expect to see the light, and it will be there. And when you see it in others, you may see a beauty in them you’ve been missing.

Lord, help us today to see your light in ourselves, in others and in the world around us. Give us the strength and courage to unveil your light within ourselves, to seek and encourage it in others, and to ever know its presence, no matter how obscured our human sight may be. Amen.