Because The Light Was On

Last week, the stand up comedian Norm MacDonald passed away, and so people have been sharing some of his jokes around, especially the Moth Joke, which happens to be probably my favorite joke ever. Norm unexpectedly had to fill seven minutes on Conan and all he had was a 20 second joke, but he managed to stretch it out for several minutes. The basics of the joke is that a Moth walks into a podiatrist's office and begins to tell him a very sad story about how he's depressed and he hates his boss and is disappointed in his son and so on. This goes on for several minutes and the podiatrist says Moth you need a lot of help but why'd you come in here? You need a psychiatrist. And the Moth says, Because the light was on. Now you may be wondering why I'm talking about some joke in my spiritual thought, and fair point. But I think there's a point to be made. One of the major criticisms leveled at religion in general and the Church in particular is that something with so many flaws and errors can't possibly have been founded and sustained by a divine force. Detractors use evidence of human folly and failures to live up to the divine attributes espoused by the Church or Religion at large to denounce the institutions as responsible for at best benign self delusion and at worst dangerous radicalization. But just as the podiatrist in the joke was unqualified and ill suited to treat the problems the moth was facing, and just as the Church is full of fallible people who are unqualified and ill suited to helping one another find peace in this world and qualify for eternal life in the world to come, even so, the moth walked into the podiatrist's office anyway, and so too do millions of members go to church despite its flaws. And why? Because the light was on. Even with brothers and sisters who can be judgmental and offensive and hypocritical, even with misunderstandings with priesthood leaders, even with doubts about certain doctrines and positions, we still turn to the church because the Light of Christ beckons us, like a Moth to a flame. And although we may all be broken and discolored pieces of glass, there is a place for us in the church and when the light of Christ shines through the stained glass window we all make together, the light is all the more glorious. The answers and solutions the Church provides may not always seem like the best for our particular situations, but we keep coming back because the light is on.