With Christmas basically just a week away our thoughts should be drifting towards last-minute present shopping and the meals that need to be prepared for Christmas feasts. We should also take time, amidst our celebrations, to remember those who are less fortunate in places we may never visit but still desperately need our support and prayers. Then, in a matter of minutes, something incredibly horrific happens in what could have been any one of our communities. Our conversations around dinner tables turn to violence in our schools, the unthinkable nature of what happened in Connecticut, and what needs to change so these kind of atrocities never happen again.
I unfortunately don’t have answers; I’m not sure any of us do. We have our opinions about what should change, what needs to change, but no real certainty if any of those changes will bring about a preferable future.
This blog post isn’t a political piece. It isn’t even a place for me to share any of my opinions on this issue. I’ve read too many posts on Facebook for me to count on the events of last Friday. Some thoughtful, some painful, and all of them coming from that place inside of us that asks the how and why.
However, I do want to offer something. Last Sunday at church our Pastor spoke on the nature of dark and light. How we see both spectrum’s in our world. And how in our own life experiences we have seasons of light and seasons of darkness. I’ve lived both… seasons of incredible sunshine and seasons of dark despair. I’ve even lived in that season of darkness where everything initially feels so good and then you realize you’ve been lied to and were blinded by your own selfish desires.
I think most of us can relate to the shades of dark and light. When I watch the news I’m often reminded of the darkness in our world. When I think of my own mistakes and failures I’m reminded of the darkness that can exist within me. Yet, when I listen to my children laugh or when I watch the sun set over Lake Michigan I’m reminded of the goodness of God – Of His light.
Light in a dark and weary land… that is why Jesus came. The Bible repeats this theme throughout its pages. The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. Matthew 4:16
This is our hope, our answer, our light. May that message of light speak deeply to us this Christmas season. Whatever darkness we may see, whatever darkness may surround us, there is a light. And we can run toward the light, the light of God’s love exhibited in His Son Jesus. He was sent to save us from the darkness and bring us more fully into His marvelous light.
This Christmas may we let His light invade our souls, speak to our darkness, and bring us real hope. May we be that light to others, carry it, display it, and shine it brightly to a world in desperate need.
By the Light of Christ,
DP