We’re called to live in the light, but we tend to have an overly romantic idea of what that should mean. We tend to think that to live in the light means that there should be a kind of special sunshine inside of us, a divine glow in our conscience, a sunny joy inside us that makes us constantly want to praise God, and an ambiance of sacredness surrounding our attitude. But that’s unreal. What does it mean to live in the light? Fr. Ron Rolheiser writes that to live in the light means living in honesty, being pure and simple, being transparent, and not having part of us hidden as a dark secret. All conversion and recovery programs worthy of the name are based on bringing us to this type of honesty. We move towards spiritual health precisely by flushing out our sickest secrets and bringing them into the light. Sobriety is more about living in honesty and transparency than it is about living without a certain chemical, gambling, or sexual habit. It’s the hiding of something, the lying, the dishonesty, the deception, the resentment we harbor towards those who stand between us, and the addiction that does the real damage to us and to those we love. Spiritual health lies in honesty and transparency, so we live in the light when we are willing to lay every part of our lives open to examination by those who need to trust us. To live in the light is to be able always to tell our loved ones where we are and what we are doing; not to have to worry if someone traces what websites we have visited; to not be anxious if someone in the family finds our files unlocked; to let those we live with listen to what’s inside our cell-phones, see what’s inside our emails, and know who’s on our speed-dial; to have a confessor and to be able to tell that person what we struggle with, without having to hide anything; and to live in such a way that, for those who know us, our lives are an open book.