From time immemorial, cultures in the Northern Hemisphere have celebrated the winter solstice in anticipation of the lengthening day, for the returning light to brighten their world. Christians have joined in, celebrating the Light of the World in the birth of Jesus and in expectation of the coming of the Cosmic Christ. We tend to denigrate what we consider the unenlightened ways of the ancients, but how different are we from those who have paved the way for us? Darkness is still very much with us, in spite of all our modern light sources. As the days grow shorter and shorter, we, even now, begin to long for more light. For more sunlight in each day, of course, whether or not we are noticeably affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder, but even more, we long for more light on the path before us, more light to illumine the darkness within.

For Christians, the darkening days of Advent serve to remind us to ready ourselves for the light for which we yearn, the light that we know will surely come at the appointed time. How then shall we, here and now, prepare ourselves to celebrate and receive the Light of the World into the darkness of our lives? We might try soaking in scripture, taking time to sit with “light” passages, letting them enlighten our hearts. For example: one might start with Gen. 1:3 where in the beginning “God said, ‘Let there be light’ and there was light”—here we see the creating Word of God at work in the cosmos. We learn more about the beginning if we turn to the prologue to John’s gospel (1:1-5): “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . All things came into being through him . . . What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” “The light of all people”—that means you and me--bearing the light of God in our very being. Elsewhere in John’s gospel (9:5), Jesus says, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world,” and goes on in Matthew 5:14 where he teaches plainly, ”You are the light of the world.” That says to me that we, each and all, are being called to incarnate the light of God’s love in the abysmal darkness of the world around us. That’s just a start; the list of “light” passages could go on and on if there were space. Just look at a concordance for more ideas.

“Come, [during this Advent season] let us walk in the light of the Lord.”