The shining light of Christ

‘WHAT is that tower?’ asked one of our recent companions on a spiritual walk around Loop Head. Coming from a landlocked African country, she had looked at the vastness of the Atlantic, then asked this question.
Explaining the lighthouse, its purpose and how it functioned caused the rest of us to dig deep. We recalled the stories from childhood about heroism and danger, the work of the lifeboat service, hymns that spoke of the guiding beacon and the warning of danger, of the lighthouse as a symbol of faith. A straightforward question gave us much to think of. We learnt that things we take for granted might be new for others and that in explaining them, we find and value them again.
It reminded me of learning new things when living in Norway.  This long, mountainous country with a population the size of Ireland’s was then coming to terms with newfound wealth from oil, as an asset for society. It was looking at ways to respect its historic minorities, Lapplanders and Finns, and to accept new arrivals from across the globe.
Norwegians themselves use many dialects and two writing systems but the ideal was to respect difference and treat all equally. The desire was that everyone should benefit and, equally, everyone was expected, and allowed, to contribute.
It was an orderly society, except for the dangers of nature. Foreigners were told how to deal with the unexpected: cliffs in the mist, ice-bridges on rivers, rock-falls, bears and wolves and taught too how to leave no trace. The vast wilderness contrasted with the safeness of society.
The education system was thorough, lengthy and nearly everyone benefited. That is itself not enough, even stable Scandinavian societies can go wrong. Iceland’s economy was recently gambled away by self-centred bankers. In Norway we saw no level of education can prevent random violence.
But after the recent tragedy, Norwegians united both in grief and in determination not to change their values of openness, freedom and opportunity. A united society is strong enough to survive. Norway is not ideal but it can teach a lot of good things.
There are different ways of learning and this month, many young people in Ireland face choices about their future. For many, good fortune will have combined with intense study helped by staff in schools that care and future courses determined by the ability, and sometimes the desire, of the family to support the student. Exams judge a society as much as the individual students and exams can show what a society values, rightly or not.
Whatever the dreams of the young, outside factors and funds will in many cases determine what they can achieve. However, every young person aiming for results has a story and every one of them is called to a future that no one else can fulfil.
Knowing where your talents lie is a good start for life. It is only part of preparing people for their role in society, the rights they can expect and the contributions expected from them.
There are ways of understanding and learning, especially learning the ability to be open to life, to see it from new angles. 
There needs to be scope for individuality as well as knowledge, for the desire to push out the boat that provides society with inventors and explorers, farmers and carers, artists and scientists, medics and ministers, businesspeople and poets.
Christians follow someone who was not regarded as a high-flier; he was a local tradesman. Jesus was also a superb teacher, perhaps self-taught, who had studied the scriptures in detail but who showed how people can learn through stories as much as sermons, through laughter as much as lectures.
The quality of the carpentry Jesus did as a tradesman was part of his ministry as well as his studying of the sacred texts. His caring for the unhappy was as valuable as his challenging the authorities.
The stories he told were about people who farmed, fished, kept house, raised children and laboured for others. Some were gifted and did not know it, some overestimated their giftedness or privilege and some had given up, thinking they couldn’t give anything anyone would want.
The message of Jesus was a call to discover, then use, innate gifts, in all their variety, but not to be defined solely by them and not to limit the ability of others to give. The image of Christ as light became transformed on our coasts to Christ as lighthouse.
In Norway, people rediscovered their values and unity through tragedy. Their common values, with opportunities for all, helped. In the coming round of exam results, our young people may seem to be judged but even more, we as a society that makes the rules will be judged. It will be on whether we are asking the right things of others, finding a place for everyone, allowing for those who can follow the system and for those who learn in unexpected ways, respecting the uniqueness and potential for creativity of each person.  How far we achieve both is, for me as a Christian, the most important test, of how far we have aligned ourselves to Jesus of Nazareth, local joiner and light of the world.
Whether the students do well or poorly in their academic studies, whether there is joy at labour completed, or disappointment, we all need a lighthouse in our lives.

Rosemary Power is a minister working on behalf of the Methodist Church.