SCATTER SUNSHINE
We live in a day when darkness seems to abound. Almost everywhere we turn, anger and contention, or sorrow and pain reign. Yet, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are asked to hold up our light. In 3rd Nephi 18:24, it says, “Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I (Jesus Christ) am the light which ye shall hold up - that which ye see me do.”
How do we hold up that light?
In the late 1800’s Atlanta Williams Smith (known as Lanta by her family) wrote the poem that became the lyrics to the hymn Scatter Sunshine. In this poem are some helpful suggestions.
In a world where sorrow ever will be known,
Where are found the needy and the sad and lone,
How much joy and comfort you can all bestow,
If you scatter sunshine Ev’rywhere you go.
Slightest actions often meet the sorest needs,
For the world wants daily little kindly deeds.
Oh, what care and sorrow you may help remove,
With your songs and courage, sympathy and love.
When the days are gloomy, sing some happy song;
Meet the world’s repining with a courage strong.
Go with faith undaunted Thru the ills of life;
Scatter smiles and sunshine o’er its toil and strife.
Scatter sunshine all along your way,
Cheer and bless and brighten ev’ry passing day.
Scatter sunshine all along your way.
Cheer and bless and brighten ev’ry passing day.
We may feel daunted at times, thinking that, to shine the light of Christ to the world, we have to do something magnificent or “earth-moving”. But a recent story in a newsletter showed how small deeds really can improve the lives of others. In this story, the author told how she witnessed a tall man reach for a bottle at the back of a shelf at a grocery store. He placed it in his basket, but then, instead of walking away, he reached up and pulled two more bottles to the front of the shelf, making it easier for the next person to reach. The author asked the man why he did this, and he said simply that he liked to pay it forward.
That man will never see the result of his action, and the next person to need that product will never know that a tall stranger was the one who made their life a little easier. But his gentle thoughtfulness smoothed the path for the next person, and that’s all we really have to do. Be thoughtful, be kind, be gentle, and be of good cheer. In this way, we can scatter that sunshine which is the light of Christ.
This image was inspired by the lyrics to hymn #230 Scatter Sunshine in Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,1985 edition. You can listen to it here.
The story was from the Sept 13th, 2025 1440 Newsletter under “Humankind(ness)”.