Recently, I heard an old adage. The adage is, only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. And this has spoken to me deeply inthe days since I heard it spoken, especially as we enter Advent.
Growing up, I lived in what many would call a fairly metropolitan area. There was always a lot of light – streetlights, porch lights, big buildings, marquees, headlights. There wasn’t much space to gaze at the stars. But, going to the mountains of Virginia was different. In the mountains, with no artificial light (or very little), the stars shone brightly all around us. At church camp, we would go out at night and just lay in a giant field and gaze up at the heavens.
We are in a time of the year when things get darker. We are moving steadily closer to the shortest day and the longest night of the year. Yet, all around us, we see light – blow-up Santas, sparkling icicles and snowflakes, candles in the windows …
That is the interesting thing about Advent, too. Advent is all about light in the darkness. Each week, we light a candle to remind us that “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it.” And on Christmas Eve, we light the Christ Candle, while we once again read the beginning of the Gospel according to John to remind us that the light that has come and is coming into the world is Jesus the Christ.
And, we are reminded that, because of Jesus, we, too, are the light. As we remind our children every year, “People who love the Light can become one with the Light … Many have come to the Light to receive their light. But the Light is not smaller.” I would expand that and say that, because of our lights, the Light becomes brighter.
So, as we enter Advent, I want to encourage each of us to shine our
lights so that the Light can shine brightly, even in the darkest night.
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