“Let your little light shine, shine, shine. There might be someone down in the valley trying to get home.”
This song is in my head this week as my church choir is preparing a rendition for this Sunday’s anthem. It’s a great arrangement and enjoyable to sing with a moving soloist. Earworm songs provide an opportunity to dig deeper. Let’s go.
I’ve spent the past weeks – heck, the past several decades – of my professional life on the topics of helping and gratitude. You’ll be asked to give to and volunteer with many worthy causes from now until the end of the year and beyond. Do as much as you can. Let your little light shine. There might be someone down in the valley trying to get home.
The fatal shooting at a Colorado nightclub on the eve of Transgender Awareness Day lays clear the struggles of our LGBTQIA+ neighbors. So many of the people at the club that night went to join their safe community where they could be seen and honored for who they truly are. Their haven was shattered by a hate-filled man with a gun. Trauma upon trauma.
Let your little light shine, if you have a light today. There might be someone down in the valley trying to get home.
Rates of suicide among LGBTQIA youth are four times higher than among their peers because they face constant stigmatization in our society. Last year 45% of LGBTQIA youth seriously considered suicide. The rate is 50% for transgender and nonbinary youth. (The Trevor Project.) These are our children, our young people, our future. Let your little light shine. There is most definitely someone down in the valley trying to get home.
You may have been in the valley and made your way home because someone shared their light with you. I thank God for them and for your courage.
We are called to serve one another as human beings on this Earth together. Shine on, friends, at whatever wattage you can summon. Look for the light of others when you need it. We will make it together.
Happy Thanksgiving. Share your little light, and your pie.
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I found a few arrangements for this traditional spiritual as arranged by Pamela Warrick-Smith. Enjoy, and let it dance in your mind for a while.
Middle Church with arranger Pamela Warrick-Smith, soloist. Oh, my soul.
Wild Goose Festival, a bit more up-tempo.
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N.B. I’m not going to provide a platform for any hate-filled nonsense from those who want to continue to stigmatize LGBTQIA individuals. You can show yourself the door. My Baptismal Covenant includes respecting the dignity of every human being.