The more light you have, the less often people will recognize it, because our perception of light goes only just beyond what we possess, and most people possess very little light. But even less perceived is the work that went into getting that extra light. Every increment of additional light takes far more effort to obtain. A little light takes a little effort to get, and a little more light takes a lot more effort to get. Those with only a little light are absolutely ignorant of what it takes to get a great deal of light. Like a toddler does not understand what it takes to be financially successful, those with little light literally cannot imagine, and therefore cannot appreciate, the sacrifice acquisition of significant light requires. It lies wholly outside of their awareness.
When I was a graduate student, I spent years running an extensive experiment on one of the most advanced supercomputers in the world. When I presented my work, no one cared about all the extra work my project required compared to a normal graduate project. I had to train myself on how the supercomputer worked, I had to write complex code to dynamically chop my problem into the sub-jobs the supercomputer could process, I had to write my own system for monitoring the status of jobs and resending ones that failed, and I had to merge the results together. All of this was on top of the actual problem I was solving. In the end, by my calculations, I did at least four times the amount of work in a normal graduate project. And yet, when I presented my work, I got the same amount of credit as if I had done a normal project. It was just a necessary part of the process because I had chosen a much more difficult problem than most do.
The Lord gives the same approbation to both the servant who was given five talents and the servant who was given two talents: “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matthew 25:23) Both doubled what they were given, and both were given the same reward, though one gained far more than the other in absolute terms. The Lord taught the same lesson in the parable of the laborers who were each paid a penny even though they worked for different lengths of time:
1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. (Matthew 20)
No one is going to care what you went through to obtain the light you share. No one is going to appreciate what you did to get it, because your experience lies outside of their awareness. The only ones who will understand are those who have gone through the same experience and have the same amount of light. By definition, there are fewer and fewer of those the more light you obtain.
And just what is it like to obtain a great deal of light? You will know what it was like for John to stand at the foot of the cross. You will know what it was like for Mary to anoint the feet of the Lord with the ointment, her tears, and her hair. You will know what it was like for the apostles to stand before the resurrected Christ, and to touch the holes in his hands. You will know what it was like for Job to have sat in ashes and sackcloth, contemplating whether God actually loved him. You will know what is was like for Jeremiah to be suspended in a cistern of filth for his faith in God. You will know what is was like for the prophets of old to arise early, prepare and kill an innocent animal they had loved and raised from birth, burning it while pouring their hearts out to God. You will know what it was like for Joseph to be left in a dungeon in a foreign land, his experience repeatedly punctuated by externally flowing rewards for his internally unjust life. You will know what it was like for Jacob to crawl towards the Lord who appeared to him in glory.
You will know what it is like to lose a spouse. You will know what it is like to watch your child die and be powerless to help. You will know what it is like to have a terminal illness. You will know what it is like to be homeless and destitute. You will know what it is like to starve to death and to freeze to death.
In short, you will contemplate all the vicissitudes of many lives, all in one short mortal life. Your experience will be limited not by the time you have here, but your diligence in seeking God and your obedience in obeying him.
How is this possible in a single mortal life? How was Jesus able to experience all the suffering that exists here in a single mortal life? Jesus experienced many of these things and more besides in the same literal way that we would. But he experienced everything else through revelation while in the body. While you are on this earth, revelation provides a means by which you can experience a great deal more than the physical circumstances of your life would allow. This is the means by which Jesus experienced all the pain and suffering that mortality provides.
The Lord's suffering in Gethsemane was not the first time he had prayed for the sins of the world. The cross was not the first time he felt his Father had forsaken him. These were only the last time these things occurred. Though they were also the worst, they were only incrementally so, due to the increased awareness he possessed compared to former times. This does not make what he went through in those final moments any less terrible or worthy of awe, but quite the opposite. The Lord Jesus spent his whole life pouring his life out unto death, his experiences in that final day were the crescendo of an ever-increasing symphony of selfless love and solitary suffering.
Likewise, there is nothing in this world that you can’t experience while here provided you have sufficient trust in God for him to show you. On the one hand, that is something for you to prepare yourself for. On the other, it should give you pause when you encounter someone with more light than you. You should wonder how many of these crosses they are invisibly carrying.
A recurring theme in superhero movies is the weight of anonymity. Light bearers endure great sacrifice in behalf of people who never realize what it is like and can never adequately appreciate the service they are providing. When it comes to bearing light and truth, your peers will never recognize your sacrifice or who you really are. They will never be able to sympathize with what you go through. They will never be able to commiserate with you. They will never appreciate you.