On Sunday we will hear these words from the Gospel According to John:

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

It is a reading that always reminds me of this story by one of my favorite writers: Robert Fulghum of Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten fame:

It’s a story about a Greek philosophy professor. It seems that it was his custom to end each lecture by asking the class, “Are there any questions?” One day a student raised his hand and – half jokingly said, “Yes, I’ve got a question. What is the meaning of life?”

The professor replied, “I will answer your question,” and he pulled a small hand mirror out of his pocket and he told this story:

“When I was a small child, living during the war we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.

I tried to find all the pieces and put them back together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece.  And by scratching it on a stone I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy, and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine – in deep holes and crevices and dark closets.

It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find. I kept the little mirror,
and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game.

As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child’s game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of the light. But light – truth, understanding, knowledge – is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it.

I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life.”

That was the meaning of his life and it can be the meaning of ours if we are willing to let our light so shine.

Like the man whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. A light that is for all nations and all people.

This Advent we come as witnesses to the light. We are not the light but we testify to the light whenever we take God’s healing grace and God’s inclusive love into the dark places they will never shine without us to reflect them. May God give us the grace to be light reflectors — this Advent Season and always.

One of our ongoing series of Advent Meditations, today’s reflection is by Susan Russell, our Senior Associate for Communication.