Am I Gonna Let it Shine?
“This little light of mine. I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine.” Quite the song, isn’t it? I bet many of us can either recite the lyrics by heart or, at the very least, hum the verses and get the chorus close enough. But I wanna think about the idea of a light in the song. Why? The song says it’s tiny, but it’s supposed to shine, and we let it do its job and accomplish its purpose. When I was little, I sang “This Little Light of Mine” in class, children’s choir, and in Sunday School. It was one of the few beautiful hymns of my youth. But as I got older, the song tumbled away. It would continue to be taught to the younger kids, but as a burgeoning adolescent, I thought myself “too cool” for such a song. It was beneath me. Where did my light go? Did I overlook the song’s purpose, or was it the dawn of my light’s demise? No, the problem was actually more