Agents of Illumination
Sunday, January 23, 2022
Tri-County Unitarian Universalists · Summerfield, Florida
Rev. Cynthia A. Snavely
This week, my email alerted me that someone had shared a quote from American journalist and author Elizabeth Gilbert. The quote resonated deeply—almost uncannily—with this week’s service theme.
A Story from a Bus in New York City
“Some years ago, I was stuck on a crosstown bus in New York City during rush hour. Traffic was barely moving. The bus was filled with cold, tired people who were deeply irritated with one another, with the world itself.”
Two men barked at each other over a shove that may—or may not—have been intentional. A pregnant woman boarded the bus, and no one offered her a seat. Rage hung in the air. Mercy was nowhere to be found.
“But as the bus approached Seventh Avenue, the driver got on the intercom.”
He acknowledged the frustration everyone was feeling. He admitted he could not fix the weather or the traffic—but he could do one thing.
“As each one of you gets off the bus, I will reach out my hand. Drop your troubles into my palm. Don’t take them home to your families tonight. My route goes by the Hudson River, and later I’ll open the window and throw your troubles into the water.”
Something remarkable happened.
“It was as if a spell had lifted.”
People laughed. Faces softened. Strangers smiled at one another for the first time that evening. And when the next stop came, the driver did exactly what he promised.
One by one, commuters mimed placing their burdens into his open hand. Some laughed. Some cried. Everyone participated.
Stop after stop, all the way to the river.
What If You Are the Light?
Gilbert continues:
“We live in a hard world, my friends. Sometimes it is extra difficult to be a human being.”
Bad days happen. Sometimes they last years. We lose jobs, money, friends, faith, love. We watch frightening events unfold in the news and feel small and powerless. Darkness feels absolute.
“But what if you are the light?”
What if you are the illumination a dark moment is begging for?
The bus driver wasn’t powerful or famous. He wasn’t a spiritual leader or an influencer. He was one of society’s most invisible workers.
And yet, he possessed real power—and he used it beautifully.
“No matter who you are, or where you are, you can illuminate your world. One bright act of grace at a time, all the way to the river.”
Kindness Before Character
Think about that bus driver. He carried responsibility for an angry, exhausted crowd. It would have been understandable for him to be angry himself.
Perhaps he was.
But the first thing he had to change was not the passengers. It was himself.
Years ago, a seminary professor challenged us to reconsider the story of the Good Samaritan. Why do we call him good?
The Samaritan may not have felt generous. He may have been irritated. Afraid. Put out. He may have worried about being attacked himself.
What mattered was not who he was—but what he did.
He acted.
He became, as Gilbert says, “the very agent of illumination a dark situation begs for.”
A Professional Answer to a Prayer
Here is an old story from my files:
A woman rushed to a pharmacy for medicine, returned to her car, and realized she had locked her keys inside. Her child was sick. Panic set in.
She found a rusty coat hanger and whispered, “God, please send help.”
Minutes later, a beat-up motorcycle pulled up. The rider—a bearded man in a skull rag—offered assistance. Within seconds, he unlocked the car.
The woman hugged him, crying, “Thank you, God, for sending such a nice man.”
The man replied, “Lady, I’m not a nice man. I just got out of prison yesterday. I was in for car theft.”
She hugged him again and sobbed, “Thank you, God. You even sent me a professional.”
Change Begins with Control, Not Condemnation
What the bus driver, the Samaritan, and the ex-car thief shared was not saintliness.
It was response.
They saw a need—and acted.
Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung wrote:
“We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate; it oppresses.”
The bus driver didn’t need to become someone else. He only needed to get himself under control in that moment.
A Personal Turning Point
For years, I told myself—and my daughter—that I needed to lose weight. I did nothing.
Then, in 2008, my thyroid was removed. Without medication, I gained ten pounds in a month. That became my decision point.
I joined Weight Watchers and eventually lost about forty pounds. Since then, Weight Watchers has changed—now called WW—and has emphasized something important:
Shame does not create health.
Negative body image and disordered relationships with food do not lead to positive change.
Self-Love as Resistance
Healthcare chaplain Dr. Andrew Tripp writes:
“January is a triggering month. Resolutions abound. Cultural fatphobia rears its head.”
He speaks of dignity. Of bodies that move, lift, love, and comfort—even when the world only sees size.
“Self-love is more powerful than self-acceptance.”
“For every soft belly, every tiger-stripe stretch mark: we are here. We are beautiful. We are sacred.”
Guilt Is Not the Way Forward
Audre Lorde reminds us:
“Guilt is not a response to anger; it is a response to one’s own actions or lack of action.”
Guilt can become knowledge—but more often it becomes paralysis. Shame protects ignorance. It preserves the status quo.
So if you seek change—within yourself or the world—remember this:
Guilt is not the way.
Shame is not the way.
Negativity is not the way.
You do not have to become someone else.
You only need to make kind choices—moment by moment.
A Blessing to Carry Forward
Harriet Tubman said:
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars—to change the world.”
And yourself.
Blessed Be.