This Little Light of Mine

by Deacon Randy Kiel | September 18, 2025

As the song says, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. Oh, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” This song is rooted deeply in our history with its more than 100 years of being penned and set to music. This song has been popularized as a lullaby, a campfire song, and most poignantly, a civil rights anthem in the pursuit of freedom.

While there are many lights in this world and almost all can be extinguished,  there is a certain light that cannot be. This light is reflected in the Gospel of John, which says, “The light shines in the darkness and darkness has not overcome it.” This is the light of hope. In my experiences over the years, I have heard many people express that they have run out of hope for whatever circumstances they may be facing.  At times I have also felt this, but this is never to be the end of my story. If we think of hope as an emotion, then it has to have an end because no emotion lasts forever. It is necessary to realize that hope is not an emotion. It is spiritual. It is the biproduct of faith.

Hope Is A Gift

Hope is an action of God given to mankind as a response to one’s life of faith. Hopelessness, on the other hand, is known to be a condition within one’s mind, but not within one’s soul. Hopelessness to many, seems to be a perceived result from the effects of discouragements and disappointments. And as we all know, there are  many disappointments to endure throughout a lifetime. 

When we hear reckless expressions such as “He’s just a hopeless case!” or “There is no hope for that relationship.” We are hearing statements that reflect the mindset of the speaker rather the one being spoken of. No person is hopeless, and no relationship is hopeless. That is not to say that all relationships are able to sustain viability. 

The Source of Hope

In some of our earliest Christian writings, we have a collection of foundational teachings from men known as our Church Fathers, one of which was St. Justin Martyr. From his teaching, we as Catholics understand who we are as humans and why hope is actually a spiritual matter. This concept is called  “spermatikos logos” which is translated from the Greek as “seed of the divine.”  This concept supports the idea that all humans are created in the image of God (imago Dei), and that all possess an innate potential to reflect God’s attributes and have an authentic desire to pursue him. We as Catholics now understand that the hope of salvation is given to us from God unto our created being. There is a seed of the divine within every person. Now that is hopeful!

A Spectrum of Decline

Much of mental health revolves around distortions of emotion and thought with hopelessness being one of the strongest examples. It is therefore inevitable that behaviors and relationships will be vulnerable to decline as mental health declines. This decline is best demonstrated as a spectrum with a range between “persistent low days” at one end of the spectrum and “cruelty in behavior” at the other end. Meanness, cruelty and abuse all come from very poor mental health.

History shows numerous examples how humans have developed  and demonstrated various cruel methods of torture and execution for the purposes of entertainment, power, and as a means of control. We must watch for psychological factors such as a callous indifference to suffering, enjoyment of pain, and deficits with empathy. These can contribute to the development of cruel, mean and abusive behavior. 

Disappointment Is Not Depression

When circumstances fall and expectations fail us, we need to realize that we are disappointed, not depressed, not hopeless, not even mad; we are simply disappointed. Yet we do know that disappointment comes in all shapes and sizes. But when we are “low” we might identify our feelings as hopeless, mad or depressed, but in reality, we are merely disappointed. It is important that we recognize our disappointments so that we do not fall into a cycle of negativity. So, let’s recall now the second verse to our titled song This Little Light Of Mine which says, “Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m gonna let it shine.” 

So, we say a heart-felt “Thank You” to St. Justin Martyr for the teaching of spermatikos logos. Hope is eternal and it lives within all of us. May our prayer be that we reflect the seed of the divine in all we do and speak. With this in mind, I confidently say to all of you, “Remain in hope my brothers and sisters, for in this truest of hopes we can never be hopeless.”