Light

I wandered out to the kitchen a few times, wracking my brain for one little thing to write about. As I made my way back to my room to park at my blank laptop, my eyes found the Christmas lights strung in my house and outside the windows. It was already dark, so the glittering yellow-whites of the lights on the porch stood out all the more. The same was true for the lights on the stairs and on the trees. It was dark and cold outside — but it didn’t feel that way inside.

Just standing under the glow of the lights makes a person feel warm. They may not be giving off enough heat to really do that, but the warmth and vibrancy are real. I have spent a great deal of time thinking about and reading about light. For a college course, I have been studying a passage from 1 John where he energetically describes the true light and the God that is the source of it. Light has been at the front of my brain, even as I work throughout the day.

I remembered all of what I had read just from a glance at those Christmas lights. They remind us of the greatest Light that appeared where there once was great darkness. The peace and warmth they exude overwhelms homes and neighborhoods. Even entire blocks of bustling cities are victims of the boundless joy of light. No matter how dark it is outside, the lights bring great joy and great kindness. Even with every other light off in the house, the multicolored joy makes everything visible.

If everything seems dark, whether from the gloom of a winter night or from any other kind of darkness, find the lights. They are everywhere this season. They are there to remind you that the Light they reflect is always present. Even when those lights go out, even when they are stored away until the next year comes, the Messiah who inspired their creation, the God who fashioned the forces that allow them to exist — He will be the brightest light when all other lights go out.