Look East Policy To Experience The Light

Janina Gomes

Keep looking to the east till the sun rises again. Those who look to the west will never see the sun rise. Similarly, we habitually look at and preoccupy ourselves with the negative. We all flee God in countless ways. We flee him along the labyrinthian paths of our own mind. We choose the path of least resistance. We seek easy accolades and flowers. We like to dwell in gracious fields where everything seems to flow with the even tide. How easy it is to be one of a crowd, to move and follow the direction they all seem to take. Yet God seems to point another way, the path not frequently trod. There, one might often walk in darkness. Few would like to accompany us on such a path. There are few lamp posts along the way. The sun may be enveloped by fog. We may have to peer through the darkness to catch the shafts of light that strain in. Darkness is personal, it is also social. It sets off a chain of hatefilled living that stirs up the unnatural. It pits people against each other. It uproots giant trees set up by culture and civilisation. Like a relentless roadroller, it crushes what is beneath. That is what it means metaphorically, when we say look west. Another chain operates, driven by the power and grace of God. The light it radiates is another kind of light. It is light that heals, patches up differences, protects the innocent,it creates new communities and recreates the earth. Like the child learning to walk, we learn to step out in faith. God holds out an inviting hand. He steadies us when we stumble. He throws a veil of protection around us when we are hedged and hemmed in by the darkness. The master weaver weaves, creating patterns that we are slow to see and understand. When we look towards the east we see the first signs of the earth rising to a new day. We breathe in the salmon and pink streaks that light the sky and the freshness of the morning. The whole of creation which seemed to be hurtling relentlessly to an early death comes alive. We know deep down that we are loved and protected. The nights are no longer heralds of darkness. They are a prelude to light. Looking east calls for hope. Hope that someday things will change. We will not be like herded cattle that sometimes stampede each other. We will trust once again. We will welcome what is yet to be born — a world not shaped by hatred and revenge, but of true human solidarity that deep down we all long for. Perhaps we have forgotten that creation was meant to be about sisterhood and brotherhood, about loving and caring. New life born from the old is always fresh and gentle to the touch. We can catch it not only in the warmth of an infant’s eyes, the shaking hands of the infirm, the mellow quietness of the old who are content with life, but also in the movement of people and nations walking towards a better life, the noise of traffic, the hustle and bustle of the city, the slow working of a village life. Those who make the effort to look east — instead of following the crowd — find the struggle was worth the trouble taken. A new day begins. The sun rises once again. Creation turns around. For those who have no Master, the flowers are attraction enough. Those for whom God is all in all, the darkness is only a prelude to the dawn. Keep looking to the east till the sun rises again.