Weekend Wisdom - June 22nd, 2025

Summer Light, Soul Light

From the desk of Amberly Boerschinger...

Is there anything more grounding that sitting in a chair and tipping your face toward the warm sunshine? My husband Kevin calls it “radiation therapy.” As we celebrate the summer solstice this week, I find myself reflecting on light. Sunshine, moonlight, northern lights, star dust...all the light God gives us to physically see the beautiful facets of the world we’re co-creating.

When I spend time with young people, including my own children, I encourage them to look up. Our world leaves us looking down far too often - keyboards, phones, sidewalks, countertops. And yet one glance at the churches of the world and you can see how they were built with architecture to raise our human eyes to Heaven - paintings, skylights, and stained-glass that graduates from dark to light as the eye moves upward.

But what about the light of the soul? How do we see into the innermost parts of our being? How do we look up to that? That is a Godly light - one that grows through our time in scripture and reception of the Eucharist. What a blessing that in both of our churches we have to look up to see Jesus on the cross above the tabernacle. On this feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, may you look up. May the light of this gift illuminate your bodies, minds and souls that when people look at you, they see Jesus.

I read this excerpt of a poem from John O’Donohue that spoke to the light:

“In the glare of neon times,

Let our eyes not be worn

By the surfaces that shine

With hunger made attractive.

That our thoughts may be true light,

Find their way into words

Which have the weight of shadow

To hold the layers of truth.

That we never place our trust

In minds claimed by empty light,

Where one-sided certainties

Are driven by false desire.

When we look into the heart,

May our eyes have the kindness

And reverence of candlelight.”