“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on
a lamp stand, that those who enter may see the light” (Luke 8:16)
Our Lord’s words are clear: “Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). The great saint Symeon the New Theologian added a vivid image that takes this idea even further on the way to spiritual understanding. He calls on us to imagine a lamp filled with oil, and in it a wick that is lit by the fuel from the oil.
Now as that lamp is burning in a room, casting its illumination throughout the space, suddenly a rat enters the room and leaps on the table where the lamp is lit. The rat knocks the lamp from the table, lapping up the oil and of course extinguishing the wick. The room is in total darkness.
Your soul is like that lamp holding the light of Christ, which you received after your baptism and Chrismation. The oil is the sum of the good things that you have done for God, for others and for yourself. That energy is keeping your soul illumined; but when your good deeds or virtues are poured out, you are running on empty. The wick is your mind. It is left without warm, kind thoughts or ideas that brighten your spirit. It’s dried out and worthless unless you again replenish your soul with virtues.
What can it be that will drain your goodness and replace it with sinful thoughts? Anger will do it, envy also—add to that the lustful passions that seize hold of your mind and force you to think of nothing else but sensual pleasures, so that you turn into an idolater and lose touch with your basic reasoning. Not just desires, but the yearning for revenge, the sadness that leads to despair, and the bitterness of wanting to be revenged on somebody who you feel did you an injury. Some of us will wallow in self-pity, blaming the Lord for allowing those sinful thoughts to enter our mind. That only makes it worse, because that person will not take ownership of his mental state. He will puff himself up with self-righteousness, as if he alone is without sin. Only he has the right to judge others, since nobody suffers as much as he.
On the other hand, when a person is filled with the light of Christ, he or she will do everything to keep that inner light and fire alive. The light serves a basic purpose by exposing what is dark, evil and corrupt. To follow Christ is to walk in the light that He casts around Him, so that His followers need never walk in darkness. When such a person is full of grace, living to serve God and others, striving to live a virtuous life, he will want to continue receiving those gifts from Christ.
Even more, the whole Holy Trinity is offering to give us a share in holiness. Yes, the Holy Spirit is within those who are pure, innocent and sincere in their faith. Can one say that the Holy Spirit is separate from the Lord Jesus, or that Christ is somewhere that the Father is not? It sounds bold and indeed, it is; nevertheless, we are invited to manifest the image of God and to become like Him in all ways except to share the essence of God head, which is exclusively for Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For those who arrive at that blessed state the Orthodox Church has a special term. They are called “those who are like” [God], in Slavonic prepodobni.