Just like feeling the suns rays breaking through the clouds, we all have tasted true humanity in our lives. We have glimpsed the rays love, hope, real selflessness, shining from ourselves; raying out from others. These glimpses of the guiding spiritual-sun of what is truly human gives us hope and show us the way.

But as everyone knows, the sun sets; darkness descends. The events of Fridays killings in France, Kuwait and Tunisia are a picture of the light of our humanity growing dark, the sun-guide of our true being disappears.

But when the sun sets, the stars are meant to shine. And this is our challenge, this is our calling at St. John’s tide; that we, like a star, learn to shine on our own! Can we take the Spirit that was given us at Whitsun and learn to shine even when it is dark? And this is why there are individual spirit-flame stars on the back of the chasuble at St. John’s tide. Our own hearts must become guiding lights.

This is because we are in a battle. There are beings in this world who do not believe in our humanity- beings who do not believe that we can evolve to become true human beings.

But lets be clear, our battle is not with flesh and blood, not with human souls, our battle is with spiritual beings of darkness enticing us to become beastly. These beings would tempt us to put out our star-light by deciding that these killers who acted on are truly evil and that true evil deserves to be wiped out. We are tempted to fight what is beastly by becoming beasts ourselves. For the beast wants to replicate itself in human souls by awakening in us the same mindset; if something is evil, God wants it exterminated.

But the spiritual sun of our humanity, Him who inspires our star-light said in our gospel, “There will come a time when those who kill you will think they are doing God a service…” (Jn 16). This battle is expected. The battle with the beast is meant to be here.

Therefore we must fight. We must fight not with the sword but with the Spirit, strengthening the light in us that can love our enemy and renounce the mindset that if something is evil it must be violently destroyed.

May human souls have the courage ever and again to shine-out what is truly human, die to what is of the beast in us, that human hearts glisten even in the darkness.

This contemplation by Rev. Jonah Evans was inspired by John 16 and how to battle the forces of evil in us.