The season of Advent has come and is now gone. A season that in part celebrates the darkness giving way to the light, or rather the light overcoming the darkness- symbolized at least partially by the lighting of the Advent wreath each week. The light, of course, that we wait for expectantly is the light of Christ which overcomes darkness. John’s Gospel reminds us of this in his early verses by saying, What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. It is around this promise that we gather- not just in Advent, and Christmas but all the time. We gather as the church to be reminded of this promise and furthermore that this promise IS for US…as well as for everyone. Light- over darkness…I’ll take the light any day.
But now here we are, on the other side of Christmas. In my setting, worship was wonderful both on Christmas Eve and Morning. Folks gathered (lots) and we sang songs from the very core of who we were and we heard the good news of the amazing promise of God becoming man. People commented on being filled in a very holy way and to be honest I was filled in amazing ways too. But now, that is in the past. So what do we do? I don’t ask that question in a cynical way at all, but rather out of true wonderment. It seems that so much energy, effort and time goes into this time of Christmas and the worship surrounding it and when it passes sometimes the light of Christ which we celebrate seems a distant memory for a while. This is the time of the year when it is dark a lot, and where I live the sun sometimes hides. This makes it hard for some folks to find the light of life or the light of Christ. Throw into that mix the reality of the world we live in where poverty rises, families break, and abuse is the norm for many kids light is anything but near. So what do we do? Really?
I was struck as I was driving home the other day by the song you can watch below. As a long time fan of the band Caedmon’s Call I have had this song on my iPhone forever- but the other day it seemed to strike me deeper. As I thought about friends facing the unknown, members dealing with heart-aches and heart-pains, colleagues trying to make sense of it all, and my own ups and downs I realized just how important it is that we, all of us realize we are in this together. And at the heart of “being together” comes the need to carry the light, to hold the light for one another when the other can’t seem to find it. This is not just “church talk”- for the way I see it, this has to bridge the gap between churched and not- between religious and not- this is a way of life to truly care about other humans and to care enough to hold the light for one who is darkness to see it. Sometimes, sometimes we need to even carry the person who just can’t walk on their own. So my prayer. My hope. My dream this post-Christmas season is for all of us, wherever we are, to do a better job of holding the light for those who feel in darkness and for us to be able to admit to others when we too need to be held.
Holding you all in the light,
JG
Ephphatha 