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Available Light

Jewish Poet, Marge Piercy has a wonderful poem by this title. In it she describes the changing light of the seasons and the changing light of her life. I have been watching the light change lately. It is mid-September, and I don’t need my calendar to tell me the first day of autumn is September 22 and Daylight Savings Time ends October 31—I can see it in the light.

In the afternoons, on my walk, I notice the ripening of shadows sooner as the sun drops in the sky. Even though temperatures are still warm, the air has a quality to it this time of day that signals the earth, too, is ripening toward fall.

I probably notice the light the most in the sanctuary here at Midway Hills Christian Church. It is a round structure with stained glass windows throughout. Each morning I arrive, I go to the sanctuary to light a candle on the communion table in the center of the sanctuary and the morning light greets me through the east window. This past Monday the shaft of available light fell across the table, illuminating crumbs of bread from the day before.

At the end of my day I extinguish the candle and notice that the light has moved around to the west window—behind me now, but just as welcoming. I sit and let its warmth prepare me for the drive home.

Available light. The psalmist has said, “O God, send out your light and your truth, let these be my guide.” I want to be available to God’s light. I want it to ripen me, illumine me, caress me, guide me. I want God’s light to bring me to fullness like the sun sweetens the harvest.