Do you ever wonder about the people whose job it is to come up with names for new paint colors? In my mind, it’s a no-stress occupation. Definitely no cubicles. The people sit in comfy chairs and look at large screen monitors that display slide after slide of the most beautiful scenes ever photographed. One shot fades gently into the next while soft music plays in the background.
Almost unbidden the names come forth: Sun Kissed Caramel, Birch Bark, Misty Lavender, Rain, Barely Rose, Sky Lights, Icy Mist. You get the idea. OK, so maybe it’s a little strange that I find the topic of naming paint colors so interesting.
But that’s how the Farrow and Ball ethereal blue paint color named “Borrowed Light” caught my eye. And that name, that phrase, just stuck with me.
Borrowed Light. We each have a light within us. In the good times, that light has a staying power and burns brightly on its own. In the not-so-good times, it still shines, but not so intensely. And in the really bad times, that light is so dim we can barely see our way. We may not even want to see our way. It may seem easier just to sit alone in that awful darkness, not seeing and not caring.
It is there in those dark times that God blesses us with the opportunity to borrow light. It may come in different forms for each of us. Think about the various circles of people you may be in…family, work, friends, special interest, school, child-related, faith, sports, volunteer, and even social media. Most of us thankfully have others from whom we can draw strength.
I like to think of us as each being the first candle to be lit in a darkened church. We turn to the person next to us and hold our small flame to their unlit candle. They in turn share their light with the next person, and so it goes down the row. In minutes the entire room is filled with borrowed light. And what’s so amazing is that letting someone borrow our light does not diminish our own light. It’s like grace and forgiveness. Blessing someone, forgiving someone, in no way diminishes the grace and forgiveness we ourselves are given.
Look around. Someone may need you to tilt your candle to theirs.
Note: This post is based on my 2012 Christmas letter.
To my readers: Share your own story of borrowing light.
