(ROCKWALL, TX – Dec. 21, 2015) You have never had to walk over to a switch on the wall and turn on the darkness. No, darkness is the default of our world. Everyone realizes that the switch on the wall will illuminate the room with light. Darkness must flee when the light shines. Light is the darkness chaser.
The same is true in all aspects of our lives. When a concept is not understood or someone is uninformed about a subject we say, “They are in the dark about that.” Then when the concept is understood we say, “The light came on and they get it.” We can think dark thoughts, read dark literature and sing dark songs. We say that portions of history were dark, and that certain places in the world or particular neighborhoods are dark. Evil deeds are done in the dark and we get a creepy feeling entering a dark room that is unfamiliar.
This world has always had the tendency to gravitate to the darkness. The laws of the universe act accordingly. Gravity pulls things down. Laws of physics tell and show us that all things degenerate, and do not improve, over time. Leave a garden untended and it will become a weed patch. Murphy’s Law tells us that if anything can go wrong, it will. (We have all been there!)
As we are celebrating the glories of Christmas this year, we look around and see signs of our world seemingly getting worse. We can notice a tremendous dichotomy between all the beautiful trappings of Christmas and the ever present evil that we see daily, not just internationally, but in our own country and cities. The Christmas parties, laughter, lights, decorations and music can get lost and even muted in the face of the ever-present negative of our world today.
But, wait! That is the very reason that the Christ Child came in the first place. His was a mission of mercy to a dark world, a world that needed Him then as much as we need Him now. The world that He was born into was also a dark world and a hopeless society. The nations were under hated Roman domination and had no hope of that changing. The future looked dark and foreboding and hopeless.
But, as Isaiah, the prophet said, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” At just the right time Christ was born to bring light: to bring hope and a future. That is the true spirit of Christmas that we celebrate.
All the external trappings of the Holiday Season are beautiful, pleasant and needed for our season-long celebration. But we struggle with our contemporary, secular world demanding the extinction of the religious meaning of this wonderful season of celebration.
But I would encourage all of us to slow down a bit and refocus on the true meaning of Christmas. Yes, the pressure is on to disregard the Reason for the Season and just to be happy and spend your money on presents. There is so much more to the story and the celebration! Don’t miss it!
Yes, God’s Light has come as the Babe in the manger, the Christ Child. It was a dark, hopeless world and a dark, quiet night as the physical light of the glory of God was broadcast across the hills of Judea in announcement to the shepherds of the Light born in Bethlehem. He is still the Light of hope that shines in the dark world of despair today. My hope is that you will celebrate His great gift as your Christmas focus this year and from that, enjoy all the wonderful things that make Christmas special.
Story and photos by Blue Ribbon News special contributor John Adams of Rockwall.
John serves as an Associate Pastor at Poetry Baptist Church. He is active in the Rockwall Breakfast Rotary. Visit his guest columns at BlueRibbonNews.com and his blog at written4u.com.
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