Maybe the goal is to out-shine and not out-shout

​In the 12th chapter of the book of Daniel we read:

"Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever."

We have more platforms than ever on which to shout. And when we share space on those platforms, the flow of information can quickly become a battle. A battle to out-shout. To the point that the line between loud and true begins to blur.

I guess someone ultimately wins those battles. For some reason, though, it feels like we are all losing the war.

One of my very dearest friends in the world lost her daughter to a drunk driver many years ago. It's always amazed me how she's walked through the emotions of that loss.

Through the sadness. The anger. The unfairness of it all.

I always think about the many chances she's had to lash out at life. To lash out for a cause. To let her circumstances add volume to her voice. But that's never what she's done.

She has simply continued to shine.

The impact she's had on countless lives has had little to do with what she's said in the aftermath of tragedy - it's had far more to do with what she hasn't said.

In the book of Philippians, Paul references those words in Daniel when he says, "Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.

Paul was in prison when he wrote those words in a letter to his friends. Paul was in prison when he chose to cling to those words of life and shine rather than shout.

Many of us are battling through our own prisons of sorts. We are mired in our own darkness. My friend has been a constant reminder to me that it's very difficult to shout our way out of darkness. It's much easier - and life-giving - to shine our way out.

We live in a world constantly drawing us into arguments - into battle. Maybe the answer to winning the war is staying out of some of those battles.

Maybe that's when we shine.

Like the stars forever and ever.