Joyfully Holding in the Light
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
February 22, 2026
Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections. This morning our scripture text is from 1 Peter 4:7-10 from The Message version,
Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help.
Last week, I shared a personal testimony and talked about a set of catalysts I gleaned from “The Book of Joy” by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama which helped bring back my joy during some difficult times.
Some of you may be a bit surprised that the first catalyst for bringing back my joy was to pray. Back then, I used terminology like “to pray or enter in” because that is what Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama had used in their book, and because I had not fully embraced the Quaker concept of “holding someone or something in the Light.”
When we were in Michigan last weekend visiting Sue’s family member who was recently diagnosed with cancer, prayer and how we pray came up on several occasions. At one point a question arose about “what are the right things to say to God to get the best results.” Questions, as a pastor, I get quite often. I am sure we all have been in that place during a difficult time and wanted to find and use the magic words.
I found it ironic that this week, my friend and fellow Quaker minister, Phil Gulley wrote in Plain Speech with Phillip Gulley about how he stopped praying for people and started holding them in the Light. In it he said this:
Praying is asking God to do something, but when we promise to hold someone in the Light, we become the doers. We no longer ask God to heal; we commit ourselves to lives of healing. We no longer ask God to tend the poor; we commit ourselves to lives of generosity and selflessness. We no longer ask God to magically intervene; we commit ourselves to lives of connection and support.
Today, if I was sketching and writing out those catalysts from our bulletin last week, I would not have said prayer but rather used the Quaker phrase “hold in the Light.” It seems to command more substance than just sending “thoughts and prayers” which often seems to lack sincerity or at least sound hollow in our current day and age.
Let’s be honest, as Sue and I discussed this past weekend, there are no words that fully grasp what you are trying to say in these difficult moments. But our lives can speak when there are no words. Being present was more than having the right words. Giving hugs, listening, and sharing the joy and love that the Light with in us nudged us to share with Sue’s family was evidence that the Divine Light was present and in our midst.
Now, for many, “holding someone or some situation in the Light” is synonymous with prayer, but when looking deeper at the meaning of this phrase, I find it resonates in my own soul and causes me a deeper spiritual exploration – and yes, I realized it brings joy to both my own life and to the lives of those around me.
The New York Monthly Meeting writes this about the phrase, “Hold in the Light.”
To “Hold in the Light” means to ask for God’s presence to illumine a person, situation, or problem, whether in concern or thanksgiving.
The history of this Quaker phrase is not easily understood or found. Google it and you will find out how varied the definitions and how little is really out there to explain it. I have even asked a couple weighty Friends and professor Friends over the years about the phrase, and they are still on the search to find its origin. The closest I have come is in an article from Friends Journal which stated,
“The metaphorical image of ‘holding’ someone ‘in the light’ didn’t appear until a 1969 poem by Barbara Reynolds which included the couplet: ‘First take your thought, this baby thing/ And hold it to the Light.” (it wouldn’t become common in prose for another decade).”
Even my weighty and professor Friends, were not sure if that late of a date is correct, but I have learned in the research that many of our Quaker phrases are modern additions or maybe I should say, “new revelations” even though they often sound as though they could be foundational. Another great example of this is our S.P.I.C.E.S.
I remember when I first had someone tell me they were “holding me in the light,” it honestly took me back to when our oldest child, Alex was born.
When we brought them home from the hospital, they were a bit jaundice and the doctor recommended we, “hold them in the light” to allow the sunlight to heal them.
I didn’t get that beautiful metaphor for this spiritual principle as a young parent, but I do, now.
My part in holding someone in the Light is more than hopeful or wishful words – but going further and physically picking up someone and helping them get into the Light.
As well, I find for someone unfamiliar with this Quaker terminology, it causes them to wonder or even try and imagine this Divine Light. If you look at early Quaker spirituality, you find that the image of light often represents the mysterious presence of God (much like it often does in Scripture.)
Like Quaker Edward Burrough (one of the Valient Sixty) who said,
“All that dwell in the light, their habitation is in God, and they know a hiding place in the day of storm; and those who dwell in the light, are built upon the rock, and cannot be moved, for who are moved or shaken, goes from the light, and so goes from their strength, and from the power of God, and loses the peace and the enjoyment of the presence of God.”
Or George Fox, himself, who said simply,
“The first step of peace is to stand still in the Light.”
In the Bible, John 1:15 actually says, “God is Light.” And there are verses that describe the Divine as the “Father of Lights” and “Light of the World,” or even God as a sun and shield.”
Quakers have multiple ways to describe this Light – everything from the Spirit, the Seed, the Inward Light, the Spiritual Christ in You, and even “That of God in Everyone.”
Yet, to hold someone or a situation in the light, I believe is to seek to bring that person into deeper contact with the Divine Presence or Present Teacher in whatever way God has called us to do that – and that often means in a tangible way.
Obviously as followers of Christ, the scriptures use the illustration that Jesus is the Light of the World and that his Spirit “illumines” our lives and brings us into Truth.
So, for me personally, when I hold someone or a specific situation in the Light, I imagine God’s grace, love, joy, wisdom and peace engulfing and surrounding their life and situation.
But as Phil Gulley pointed out, it also makes us the doers. It means we must also act or embody the Divine to those we are holding in the Light.
You and I are being called to be the bearers of God’s grace, love, joy, wisdom, and peace in the lives that we are holding. When we hold someone in the Light, God’s light lives out through us. So, we are also holding them in the Light that we provide.
Folks, really think about this – the Light in you and me may be the only Light that someone who is struggling experiences.
Phil Gulley goes into this deeper. He says,
Today, when I promise to hold someone in the Light, I am not asking God to miraculously or magically intervene in their lives, something God doesn’t seem inclined to do, at least as often as, or in the manner, we would like God to. Rather, what I am promising is that, insofar as I am able, I will embody the love and light of God to those who are hurting. I will, insofar as I am able, walk alongside those victimized by hardship and hate. I will, insofar as I am able, do justice in the midst of injustice, practice mercy in the midst of cruelty, and tell the truth when all about us the world is drowning in a sea of lies.
When we say we will hold someone in the Light, do we mean that?
· Are you and I promising to embody the love and light of God to those hurting?
· Are you and I promising to walk alongside those victimized by hardship and hate?
· Are you and I promising to do justice in the midst of injustice, practice mercy in the midst of cruelty, and tell the truth when surrounded by lies?
Another way of looking at this is how a Friend from Ann Arbor Friends Meeting described it,
“I like to think of ‘holding in the light’ as being ‘holding in Love.’ The Light to me represents God’s love and some of its qualities, and so when I think of holding someone in the Light, I picture them surrounded by visual, bright Light, but also surrounded by something with warmth and a soft texture. In the Psalms there is reference to being born up on the wings of an eagle, and I like the image of an eagle’s wings as part of God’s love. The wing can be powerful, strong, and uplifting, but on the ground the wings can encircle us in a warm and comforting way. Thus, I envision someone being held in brightness, warmth and softness.”
This is why our comforting and joyful presence, our hugs, our listening ears, our willingness to make a meal or sit with a person in tough times is so very important.
You and I are called to be the “eagles wings” that encircle, warm and comfort our neighbors and loved ones.
Folks, we are called to be the Divine incarnate in the lives of our neighbors.
And when we do this, it can bring true joy, because discovering joy in holding our neighbors and loved ones in the Light not only enhances our lives but also creates a ripple-effect, fostering kindness and compassion within our communities.
I think this is because caring for and serving our neighbors and loved ones is a fundamental aspect of human existence that resonates deeply with our shared values and experiences.
Just think about it. Maybe the reason we are so divided in our world currently is because we are not holding each other in the Light and seeking the well-being of those around us.
Again, this is why Jesus summed up the entire gospel with “Love God and Love your neighbors as yourself.” Jesus knew we would be the Light that others would be seeing – and we would be the ones called to hold each other in this Light.
But once again, I have to point out that phrase “as yourself” Love your neighbors as yourself. Hold your neighbors and loved ones in the Light as you hold yourself. This is again where we must point the finger back at ourselves and ask,
· How good are we at holding ourselves in the Light?
· How good are we at letting others hold us in the Light?
· Do we simply want magic words from a distance, too?
Let’s return to our scripture to close this morning. Let me rephrase it a bit to speak more clearly to what I have already said.
Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in [holding each other in the Light.] Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully, [joyfully!]. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help.
Let us go this morning intending to joyfully hold each other fully in the Light of God’s Love!
Amen.
As we enter waiting worship take a moment to ponder those queries from my message:
Start With Yourself:
· How good am I at holding myself in the Light?
· How good am I at letting others hold me in the Light?
· Do I simply want magic words from a distance?
Then think about others:
· Am I promising to embody the love and light of God to those hurting?
· Am I promising to walk alongside those victimized by hardship and hate?
· Am I promising to do justice in the midst of injustice, practice mercy in the midst of cruelty, and tell the truth when surrounded by lies?