Get Out There and Find Your Light

Episode 030 Full Episode

Ben Walters: [00:00:00] Ben with SuperPumped podcasts. Are you feeling a little blue or glum today? If you are, you're in good company because I am too. That may seem a little bit odd because it's almost Christmas and I'm a pastor and it's the fourth Sunday of Advent and it's the penultimate day of Hanukkah. You would think there'd be some joy, some excitement within me, but the reality is I'm not feeling it right now.

Ben Walters: I definitely feel sad because do you know what today also is? Today is the shortest day of the year. It is the first official day of winter, so that means less sunlight today than any other day throughout the year. And as someone who grew up in Arizona where there was sunshine and blue skies nearly every single day of the year without fail to... Here, come over here and take a look at this to see the Ohio gray [00:01:00] just day after day after day. Like we may not see the sun again and blue skies until perhaps March or April. That can really get you down. One of the things I was thinking about is this whole idea of light and how much light is critical to who we are as people. There's two kinds of light. There's natural light and there's artificial light.

Ben Walters: One of the coolest lights, I think is candles. Because it's the fourth Sunday of Advent, we relight the candle of peace and we relight the candle of joy. And we relight the candle of hope, and today we light the candle of love, which some also talk about as being the candle of light. But I guess all candles are candles of light, right?

Ben Walters: When you see this warm candlelight or even match light. It really warms your heart. Now, we're not plants. Plants [00:02:00] thrive on light through the process of photosynthesis.

Ben Walters: But with humans, we don't necessarily have photosynthesis, but when there's an absence of light, they have what's called seasonal affective disorder, and it's where we do tend to get sad. If you are feeling sad, there's a reason for it. One of the cool things my daughter did for me, she knew that I like light and I grew up in Arizona. She got me this cool little thing and this is supposed to go next to my computer in my office. Once I get it on here, whoa. You can see that it has light. It has different types of light, of different kind of shades and warmth and that kind of thing. And then here's what's really cool. Different brightnesses of light. That is really bright, right? That is blowing me away. The idea is when you're sitting and working at your desk, that kind of thing, this light comes to you and it's supposed to brighten your mood.

Ben Walters: Now, no offense to my daughter, and the gesture was very sweet, but this didn't [00:03:00] work very well.

Ben Walters: There is a huge difference between artificial light and warm light, and I learned that another way, the hard way. I decided I would surprise my wife and go out and hang icicle lights along our very long wraparound porch on our historic home. I did it and I was so proud of myself. And do you know what her comment was? They're blue and you can see our house from the moon. I realized in that moment not all light is created equal. And in the same way that the light board that my daughter got me here doesn't really help me with my mood.

Ben Walters: In the same way, that light that I'm putting out in the neighborhood also doesn't give that warm feeling of the holidays. We have to think about where is the true source of our light? And so for Christians, and this is why we celebrate Christmas as [00:04:00] Christians, the true source of our light is the birth of Jesus. It's Jesus coming into our world.

Ben Walters: If you're not a Christian, my question for you today is what is your source of light? What illuminates your path? What shows you the way? What is constant that helps you get up every day? Because you know you can set your watch by it. It's coming every day and you can count on it. What is your source of light? That's something I want each of us to think about today.

Ben Walters: Final thought, I think this will encourage all of us no matter what our other viewpoints are. The good news is, the hopeful news is, every day between now and the start of summer will be longer than the next. Every day, we will be given just a little bit more light, a little bit more light, a little bit more light, until that final day on the [00:05:00] first day of summer when we get the maximum amount of light.

Ben Walters: Go out there, find your light, be lights to one another, and I hope you have an incredible Hanukkah or Christmas or whatever you celebrate or don't celebrate this special season. Thanks for joining me today. 

Ben Walters: Thanks for joining me today on the SuperPumped Life podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, I have two really quick next steps for you. First, subscribe or follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube so you don't miss future shows. And second, jump on 

Ben Walters: over to superpumped.com where there are all kinds of great tips and tools for you to launch your SuperPumped Life.

Ben Walters: Keep well and I'll see you next time.