By Meg Newton
Have you even known someone to hide a “secret healthy ingredient” in their baking or cooking? I’ve made chocolate cookies with pureed lentils, and peanut butter chocolate chip bars with mashed chickpeas—both really good, my family thought! I’ve also had black bean brownies (less of a favorite), and a friend of mine used to throw a bag of frozen mixed vegetables in the blender and add it to her pasta sauce. That one did not fool my kids when they were little.
I’ve been thinking about this healthy eating trick, though, as I’ve been meditating on what Jesus means when he tells his disciples and followers to “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). What does it mean to let my light shine? Is it enough to act kindly for kindness’s sake—like providing a bit of protein hidden in a cookie? Does that glorify our heavenly Father? Or does it ultimately just make me look kind, or good, or nice?
Jesus uses a different analogy, of course. He says, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house” (Matthew 5:14-15).
You could argue that lentils in cookies still provide nourishment, while a light under a bowl does no good at all. That’s true. But isn’t the light that we’re called to shine supposed to point to the source, not just do a good deed? Our actions matter, but they should overflow from our own encounter with the light of Jesus, and point others back to him.
As we continue in this Easter season, when we remember and celebrate the life-changing reality of the Resurrection, how can we shine the light of hope and love in a way that leads people to the Resurrected One? Yes, we want others to “get the protein they need”—to be cared for, to feel safe, to be seen. But we also want them to know that the chickpeas are in there—to know the Source, to know that there is a God who willingly came to earth and lived among us and died for us so that he could become King, and establish a Kingdom of hope and new life, and new creation—and we are invited in.
So—I’m always up for more recipes to smuggle nutrition into my picky kid—feel free to send them my way! But I also want others to see the light that shines from me—from my actions, words, attitudes; my generosity, hopefulness, patience . . . –and see that it’s all because of Jesus in me. I don’t want to mash him up and hide him in some sugary treat. I want others to encounter the true Light who gives light to everyone and who, out of his incredible love for each of us, has come into the world.
Meg Newton is a wife, mother of two teenagers, baker of cookies with hidden legumes, and the associate pastor of Trinity Church in New Canaan.
