Festival of Light

Today - 31st October 2024 - is a festival of light! British and Americans would typically recognise the date as Halloween, but in India and the Hindu population this year it also happens to be Diwali - a festival of lights.

Like all things in life, we can choose what we celebrate, what we pass on, what we amplify. We can choose to pass on that which is wholesome and uplifting, or that which tears down, is dark, or troublesome. For example one of the global crises that we have today concerns  social media posts - some of which are dark or just plain false yet nevertheless get shared, re-shared and amplified ... because people choose to celebrate, pass on, and thus amplify them.

Paul wrote to the Philippians: "Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable ... think on such things".

The Diwali festival celebrates a sense of victory of light over darkness. For the Hindu community it is an opportunity for great celebration - sweet food, lights, fireworks and partying in general. People wish each other a happy Diwali along with prosperity into the future much like western New Year greetings.

The celebration of light and overcoming of darkness of course resonates in the Christian faith: Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8:12), and the light has come into the world and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:4). That is worth celebrating! For those taking part in Halloween activities, we want to lovingly point them to the light. For those enjoying their Diwali celebrations, we celebrate Light too - His Name is Jesus!

From Mentor to Soul Friend

I felt particularly blessed recently! I had the opportunity to catch up with someone who I had seen grow from childhood through youth to now being a young adult. We covered typical ground of hearing how their studies are progressing, involvement at a local church, outreach initiatives on campus etc., all of which made for a mutually encouraging conversation.

Into the conversation I asked the question: 'So what do you feel God has been on your case about recently?'. That got them thinking, but without too much of a pause they were able to discuss a passage of Scripture that had grabbed their attention and had led to some internal wrestling. Their ability to engage in the question was a positive fruit of the mentoring relationship that we had over the years. I offer the question as a 'Soul Friend' question - one that we can use one-to-one or in a triplet to touch base on where we are at in our discipleship. The mentoring relationship wasn't simply to produce a nice person, but to contribute to someone's discipleship journey such that they continue in active following of Jesus in their own right into their future.

Then came a wonderful surprise switch-around! The person then asked me: 'So what do you feel God has been on our case about recently?'. In asking me the very same question, it was my turn to be honest about my discipleship, whether I was being attentive to the voice of the Spirit, trying to wrestle, learn and develop. I talked about a scripture passage that had caused me to think again on a key faith concept, and we discussed that briefly.

I was mega-chuffed, because in asking the question back to me we now had equality and reciprocal exchange! The relationship had matured from the senior/junior mentoring dynamic to two people being Soul Friends able to prompt one another to think about their faith and walk with Jesus as equals. This is surely the outcome we desire of faith-mentoring relationships, providing the safe yet stimulating environment where a person rises to be our equal and journeys beyond the orbit of ourselves into the calling that God has for them.

To be able to see the fruit of that process is a wonderful blessing.