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Invisibility May 31, 2007

Posted by Anya in : I won't keep things purposely vague , 1 comment so far

A few months ago, I wished that I was invisible.  Just for about half an hour, and just because my siblings were driving me loopy and I really was tired of it.  So… I went and hid behind a chair in the living room.  It was dark and they didn’t find me, so I was happy.  Also, I knew that the next day (or somewhere thereabouts) I would be going to D.C. for the March for Life and would, consequently, be away for about 16 hours.  Granted, it was going to be on a bus of crazy, loud kids, but there is a certain invisibility in a crowd.   

Don’t get me wrong, I love my family.  But every now and then… being invisible for half an hour wouldn’t be a bad thing.

So that was that, case closed, right?

Well, it came up again last week when I was talking with Antion.  I said, “Hello, invisible man” — simply because he had gone invisible on AIM.  He does that all the time.  He said, “yeah… that’s how I wish I was.”  I told him that he is not the only one who feels that way at times.  :-P  So then I started thinking of other reasons why it would be really fun to be invisible. 

~You could play awesome pranks on people (this is the GopherBrane side of me coming into play!)

~Also, I’d love to be able to do the Wonderful Life thing and see what people’s lives would be like without me.  That is, I think that I’d love it.  I’m sure it would be interesting.  But it’s something which I really can’t imagine… since obviously I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have me in their life in some capacity. 

But now, thinking seriously about it… God does not want us to be invisible.  Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 5, 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”  That doesn’t sound like invisibility to me. 

Paul encouraged the Christians to follow his example which they had seen (Phil 3:17).  Peter reminded them that Christ had shown them the way that they ought to live.  (I Peter 2:21.)  Paul also wrote to Timothy, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”

That isn’t something which we can do while being invisible.  Christians are called to be SHINING in the world, not dark little patches on the shine of the world.  The world’s shine is shallow, but it is shine all the same.  We are called to shine like stars — consistantly and brightly.  Audio Adrenaline stated it clearly in their song Don’t Censor Me:  “I’m the salt of the earth, the city on a hill. My light’s twice as bright I’m gonna show you something real!”  Newsboys also captured this point clearly in their song Shine — “Shine, make ‘em wonder what you got… make ‘em wish that they were not on the outside looking bored… Shine, let it shine before all men… let them see good works and then — let them glorify the Lord.”

Our calling is to shine.

Do it.