HOW WE CAN RISE ABOVE WHILE STILL HERE ON EARTH!

The Light Shines down from Above, but Darkness Falls Down

Eileen Renders

We all realize the Sun rises each day higher and higher until it shines light up in the sky. It settles for a time period above us to bring warmth as well. But at the end of each day, the sun sets, and darkness surrounds us. The “Light” is often described as a metaphor of God’s goodness. Abundant, warm, and allows our eyes to see and to follow. Darkness, on the other hand, is often depicted as sin, evil, and of Satan. Just as we think of heaven as high and above us, and hell is far beneath us.

In more ways than one, God shows us and reminds us to see and feel the Light so we can realize the goodness and positive way God desires for us to live and make choices in our lives. Just as we are reminded of the Ten Commandments, we must avoid sin. Sin is often depicted by darkness. This is so as it can cause us to fall deep into the darkness, and the temptations of Satan, all of which put us at risk of one day being sentenced to hell for eternity!

God wants each creature He has created to remain in the Light and to follow Him, all the way to heaven through leading a good, loving, merciful, and humble life. Understanding then, for all of us, life is “temporary”. However, when this world passes away, and our time is over here, we will surely be judged by God, and must accept whether we will be invited into heaven for eternity, or cast down into the darkness of despair for eternity.

The Good News is: We all were given free will to choose how we live our lives, how we make our choices for good or evil. To help us make good choices, we might practice putting a dollar or two into the hands of a homeless person rather than buying ourselves a dish of ice cream for dessert after dinner. Loving and feeling empathy for others, who, due to disabilities, cannot work and earn money. May we not falsely accuse such people of being addicts or alcoholics, or lazy, without knowing their background at all?

Share love, have compassion, be generous. The benefit of such a life is more than one might realize. God’s mercy, love, and compassion surely outweigh anything we might do. Rather than seeing death as a means to be with God, we will begin to feel and to know that He lives within us even before our days here on earth are over. Understanding this, why would any of us deny our fellow man kindness and mercy?