Being the Beloved - A Monthly Blog from CFDM Northwest
By Rev Mona Chicks
My whole life, I have been fascinated by the Northern Lights. These amazing streaks of light dance through the night sky, as if making the point that light is an active presence, ready to peek into the darkest corners. I’ve been in a few places where Northern Lights are common – in Alaska and Norway in particular – but always at the wrong time of year. Even the Seattle area recently we had a night when they were expected to make an appearance. I woke in the middle of the night, and went outside to seek them, but the lights reflected in the sky were simply the lights of the city and not the glowing greens and blues that we recognize as those iconic polar phenomena.
The thing about light is that even the smallest glimmer is quite obvious in a dark place. Darkness is simply the absence of light, so the smallest light erases the impact of darkness. Light creeps into cracks and tiny holes, a fact that is quite clear if you try to spend a night far enough north in late June. It is light that is active, not darkness. Even the slightest glimmer of light makes an impact to scare the darkness away.
Recently, my family and I were walking through a dark residential area at night, with little traffic and fewer streetlights. We used flashlights to illuminate the sidewalk – which from familiarity we knew was full of uneven pavers and tripping hazards. Our flashlights gave us comfort as we walked, confident that we would not twist an ankle on a tree root-burdened sidewalk, or stray into the vehicle traffic lanes. Previous walks had brought trepidation, but this time we were ready to stick to the path.
As humans, we are drawn to light. We build fires for cooking and warmth, we use candles to create ambience, we flip a switch in the room when we enter. Light banishes what is scary, lays bare what is unknown, and directs our path when the road ahead is lost in darkness.
Throughout Scripture, we see God use light to create what is good, to redeem what is broken, and to reveal what is unknown. All of this is in the person of Jesus – the Word of God who is the light of men.
As we wait for the light to dawn in our dark world – as we wait for a tiny baby to be born who is God in human flesh – in him is the life that is the light of all people! He is Immanuel – God with us. He is the Word which lived among us. In him all was created, redeemed, and revealed.
In the words of the First Nations version* of John 1:4:
Creator’s life shined out from the Word, giving light to all human beings. This is the true Light that comes to all the peoples of the world and shines on everyone.
Or a more well-known version (CEB):
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
When we feel we are living in darkness, we know that light has a response. Our world right now feels like the darkness is winning, but we have the promise that the light has already won. Not only has it won, but the light is dancing through the sky, fully conquering darkness. The darkness cannot overcome it or put it out. (Jn 1:5). This advent, as we wait for the tiny babe lying in a manger and as we wait for the final victory of light over darkness – let us hold fast to this knowledge that the Word has been in the beginning, is now, and is forevermore, and in Him is life and light.
Amen and amen.
*M. Wildman, Terry. First Nations Version (p. 164). InterVarsity Press.
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