Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to observe thy righteous ordinances. (Psalms 119:105-106)
The sounding joy of Advent is light! … the Light that is coming into the world. It is, for seasoned Advent celebrants, an amazing juxtaposition of glory in Him Who Was and Is and Is to Come.
I love light. I love it! Sunrises that paint the world from first light, fireworks that cause grown-ups to ooh and ahh, thousands of “fairy lights” illuminating the shop windows and the town square and the village Christmas trees in European cities, a candle in a window, and glow sticks and fluorescent necklaces on children at amusement parks.
Rainbows, prisms, a well-lit portrait in oils, and a diamond when it catches the light and sends it back in radiance into the world … I love light. My favorite part of darkness is the way it showcases light.
Oh, we do lament the darkness in the world around us. It’s so intense these days, as we have seen and said.
The righteous ordinance of God is that we should believe on the One He has sent. When we do, there is no light, no laser light, not the Aurora Borealis, there is no star or sun that can hold a candle to the light we are. The Living Word is our lamp, and He illumines us from the inside, and we shine like torches lighting a boulevard for the world around us. We are, from heaven, like millions of luminaries marking the road to the New Jerusalem.
Shine on, my dear ones. Shine this Advent season. When a person is merry and bright … when all within is calm and bright … the darkness must flee. The Light of the World shines, shines in us, and the piercing glow of humility, compassion, faith in God, and unfeigned love are as a thousand suns in us.
photo courtesy of
Davidson Point of View
Marketplace Monastics 