“Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light…”

Something I was reading this morning really stayed with me — John 3:20, where Jesus speaks about people coming into the light, and how uncomfortable truth can sometimes make us want to retreat from it.

It made me think about something that actually happened to me today.

I shared a reflection this morning, and afterwards somebody messaged me privately on Facebook to tell me that they had taken offence to what I’d written. The message very much came from the assumption that what I’d posted had been directed at them.

But it hadn’t.

And that’s what made me reflect on this even more deeply.

What I posted wasn’t a reaction to anybody. It wasn’t a passive-aggressive response to a conversation. It wasn’t a disguised message aimed at a particular person.

I woke up this morning with a thought.

I immediately journalled it. I put pen to paper, sat with the thought, reflected on it, developed it into something meaningful, and blogged it on my blog which I then shared on Facebook.

There was a whole process behind it. It wasn’t “something happened, so I’m going to post about it.” I’m a writer it doesn’t work that way there’s allot of paper behind my thoughts and what I post online, much of it never makes it here or my blog.

It was simply a thought that came to me, followed by reflection.

And yet, someone read it and saw themselves in it strongly enough to feel that it must have been about them.

That got me thinking about how easily we can take things personally. You see as someone who is neurodivergent we don’t just stop there it’s goes deeper. Picking it apart so we can understand the thought processes of others to understand them better which is probably why I hold a degree in psychology 😂

You see sometimes we read something and immediately think, “That’s aimed at me.” We become defensive, offended, or feel compelled to respond. But perhaps the more useful question isn’t always, “Why would someone say that about me?”

Perhaps it’s, “Why did I feel that was about me?”

Because sometimes what we’re reacting to isn’t actually the person who wrote the words. Sometimes we’re reacting to something the words have touched within ourselves.

A truth.
A wound.
A behaviour.
A fear.
Something we’re not quite ready to look at.

And I’m not saying that everyone who takes offence is automatically guilty of whatever they’ve read. That’s far too simplistic.

But I do think there’s something powerful about recognising that our reactions can sometimes reveal more about us than the thing we’re reacting to.

John 3:20 says:

“Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”

And then, beautifully, John 3:21 follows:

“Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light…”

Perhaps that’s the real lesson.

The light isn’t just there to expose other people. Sometimes it’s there to show us ourselves.

So if something I write resonates with you, challenges you, or even makes you uncomfortable, that’s okay.

But before assuming it was written at you, perhaps pause for a moment and ask yourself why you saw yourself in it.

Because I can only speak for myself and sometimes I write because I am processing something I’ve been shown within myself or simply because I’m trying to understand human behaviour.

And sometimes, what I write just happens to shine a light somewhere someone else wasn’t expecting to see it.