Light dispels darkness

Due to the holiday period, I am having to write this article well in advance of publication. In fact, it is just a few days before 21st December – the shortest day of the year. Shortest that is, in terms of daylight hours and short on strength of light too. In other words the light is lacking both in quantity and quality! From now on, until late June at least, the light we live by will be increasing; the daylight hours will get longer and the strength of light stronger.

Yet, as we stand at the threshold of a new year and we look at the world and even our own personal situations, are we anticipating a brightening future? Possibly not.

We may think that what is putting the dampener on our outlook are things such as conflicting economic strategies, nations in conflict, variance in world-views (both political and religious) and questions about the environment. For many of us, however, our uncertainties are nearer at hand: financial pressures, employment worries, health issues, personal relationships and responsibilities. Most of these things that bring shadows into our lives would be eased somewhat if we humans were able to act and react differently with one another but we simply don’t have the will, indeed the capability, to change fundamentally.

Christmas time should have reminded us that Jesus came into the world as the Light of the World, but as Jesus himself said: ‘People prefer darkness for fear that the light will expose their evil ways.’ And so the world stumbles on from crisis to crisis. What can you and I do?

We can come to Jesus with our own world and submit it to him who is the Light (with a capital ‘L’), confident that he can extinguish our dimness and put us on a lighted path, which leads onwards and upwards. The Christian message continues to be one of light and faith overcoming darkness and fear.

Someone has said, ‘Fear came knocking at the door and faith arose and opened it. There was no one there.’