“Here we go again!” is a regular sigh of my soul as I rise in the darkness of another wintry morning after another night of disturbed sleep (just my time of life). By God’s Grace my sloth and sullenness are dispelled and cleared by the sunshine of God’s Love cutting through my moody mist of misapprehension. Prayer, Breakfast, Bible, Reading, Reflection & Journaling usually provide the necessary openings for truth, hope and purpose to enlighten & lighten. Like speed bumps they also stop me ploughing headlong into blind self-dependent, busy, self-satisfied, complacent automatic pilot.

Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8 (NIV)

John says, “If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.” 1 John 1:6-7

In Sunday 10.30 services we’re journeying through the Anonymous 12 Step Program and reached 10, key to sustaining a life of freedom from addiction and self-centredness. ‘We continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.’

Step 10 is all about ‘walking the talk’ and nurturing attitudes of Gratitude, Integrity, Humility, Open-mindedness, Transparency and God-Dependency, which allow God’s Love and Light to fill and overflow our life and living. It involves disciplines that foster self-awareness, finding and following God’s perspective and priorities. It includes commitment to regularly meeting up with others for mutual encouragement in our worship and walk with God. It’s about ‘Admission’.

The noun admission, from the Latin word admissionem, means ‘a letting in’. It often refers to a fee for entry and the process of being granted entry. An admission can also be a confession that something is true, such as your brother’s admission of guilt, that ‘he was the one who let down your bike tyres’.

This last week one of the sights that flooded my soul with love and light were snowdrops lining roads I cycled in Ayrshire. Snowdrops amaze me with their resilience and fill me with joy and hope, forerunners of Spring which remind me of God’s faithfulness and promise of new life from dark soil.

“You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.”Matthew 5:8 (MSG)

Let’s commit to admit God’s Love and Light in and through our 24/7 lives and living. As St Paul put it, “Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.” 1 Corinthians 10:12 (MSG) Don’t let dark soul-sighing moments con you into believing they’re permanent. Open the aperture of your heart and let The Love & Light in and through you, my friends. The sight is full of technicoloured significance, purpose, joy, and hope.