The Porch Light

Grace for All · Jul 17, 2026 · 5m

Matthew 5:16 (NRSV)

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

My brother and I used to spend whole summer days at my great-aunt Gladys' place in upper East Tennessee, gone from just after breakfast until the cowbell rang. She'd ring it from the porch when supper was ready, and the sound would carry up the holler however far we'd wandered.

Gladys wasn't just an aunt who happened to have a huge house and what seemed like a million acres. My grandmother — my father's mother — died when he was a teenager, and…