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I’ve just finished a eight-day retreat which focused a lot on seeing the Brilliancy in all of life—similar to seeing light reflect on water that is rippling. It has beauty and purity and a certain elegance. And we have it too. It is basic to our nature. What often keeps us from experiencing it, however, is a sense that we are incomplete. We haven’t quite yet measured up to—what? Other people’s expectations? Our own? God’s? We might say to ourselves, if even unconsciously, “I’d be complete if only I would have…”  And then we have an inner list of ways we haven’t accomplished what we thought we should. Been kinder. Lost weight. Got a certain degree. Learned Spanish. Traveled to that place on the bucket list. Meditated every day. Spent more time with the kids. And so on. What would you add?

All that belief in our incompleteness veils the truth that we are already complete. Paradoxically, complete in our incompleteness. For me, it’s another way of understanding that mystery of grace. There is a Brilliance in our baptism that confirms we are the shining Beloved of God, like the sparkling of water on a lake in sunshine. As the Trappist monk, Thomas Merton wrote in Seven Story Mountain, “There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.” 

Yet I feel compelled to remind you of that very fact—you shine with Brilliance. You are complete in God’s eyes. And when you can even let that in, just a little bit, you can begin to sense the potential of yourself as a human being.

A spiritual practice? Notice when you see Brilliance in your life today. Can you see it in the trees, the water or even rocks? Can you relax all your preconceived notions of others and see them shining like the sun? Can you sense your own light, purity and elegance of being?

Brilliance is a beautiful gift of God, bringing joy and light. Say yes to its invitation.

Pastor Marcia Wakeland is a retired ELCA pastor, a spiritual director and a listening advocate. She is interested in the actual experience of having faith and how that is lived out. She can be reached at mwakeland@gmail.com for comments or more questions Her ongoing blog of living out spiritual practices is listeninglife.live