Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.
Psalm 4:6

After reading the newspaper or listening to the news, we -- like the psalmist -- are apt to ask God who can show us any good. We desperately request God to show us good. The answer, of course, is that God has shown us good if we will only take the time to look for it rather than concentrate on the bad.

I would like to share with you one powerful example of the light of God's face shining in the face of another. I am a member of the Blawenburg Community Band. When the weather is warm, we often play open-air concerts at shopping malls and parks. At the conclusion of these concerts, the conductor frequently asks children to come up to play with the band. He gives a quick teaching lesson about the various instruments in the band and invites the children to follow him, playing their imaginary instrument, while marching in a circle to a rousing Sousa march.

Typically, children who respond to his request range in age from 3 to 10. During one such event last summer, joining the young children who responded to the invitation was an adult couple with Down Syndrome. They came forth, hand-in-hand, with smiles to accept the conductor's invitation to play with the band. Quickly sensing the situation, another man in the audience came forth to join the children and the couple. Several other adults, observing his actions also came to join the children. It soon became a large group of people of all ages, marching in a circle, playing imaginary instruments and having a great time. What could have been a "look-at-them event" was turned into a "join-with-them" event. Truly, the light of God was shining in the face of the man who first came to join the group.

We need to always be vigilant in looking for the light of God shining in the face of others. And when we are overcome by the evil in the world, like the psalmist we too should quickly ask for the light of God to shine on our faces so that we can show good to others.

Thank you, God, for putting your light in the face of others to remind me of your goodness. Help me to show forth that same light to others. Amen

Contributed by Nancy
Sunday March 25, 2007
Liturgical Year C Week 17