Having just “fallen back” with our clocks, we can anticipate the earlier onset of darkness in the late afternoon / early evening. Days will continue to get darker until December 22 for us Northern Hemisphere folk. After that shortest day, hours of light will increase for the sun is coming back! My mind relishes the symbolism of this astronomical event . . . Perhaps it’s because my thoughts can’t help but run to darkness and light imagery these days as I prepare with others for the upcoming Super Saturday “Light of the World” which is inspired by Isaiah 9:2a: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light . . .”
A person who is thrilled by making connections, having what I’m studying in one place be reinforced in another, I am delighted to be encountering bible verses and passages concerning light. In our Sunday morning adult class, we read how Jesus told the crowd “You are the light of the world . . .” (Matthew 5: 14). [Sorry, David, but this sent me off on an illuminating search to gather more “light” verses!] One evening recently I walked into the teen classroom and was drawn to what was penned on the dry erase board: “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1: 3). In the beginning God’s light had shattered the darkness of the physical world.
John’s gospel speaks of the spiritual: “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world” (1: 9). We have God’s Word as “a lamp to [our] feet and a light for [our] path[s].” Jesus called himself “the light of the world” and said, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8: 12). Beautifully, in Revelation we discover the New Jerusalem “does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (21: 23).
I’m enjoying my “light load” these days and hope that you, too, will focus on the Light as our days get shorter, physically darker. Also, may we pray to ever more eagerly look forward to the Son coming back . . .
A person who is thrilled by making connections, having what I’m studying in one place be reinforced in another, I am delighted to be encountering bible verses and passages concerning light. In our Sunday morning adult class, we read how Jesus told the crowd “You are the light of the world . . .” (Matthew 5: 14). [Sorry, David, but this sent me off on an illuminating search to gather more “light” verses!] One evening recently I walked into the teen classroom and was drawn to what was penned on the dry erase board: “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1: 3). In the beginning God’s light had shattered the darkness of the physical world.
John’s gospel speaks of the spiritual: “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world” (1: 9). We have God’s Word as “a lamp to [our] feet and a light for [our] path[s].” Jesus called himself “the light of the world” and said, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8: 12). Beautifully, in Revelation we discover the New Jerusalem “does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (21: 23).
I’m enjoying my “light load” these days and hope that you, too, will focus on the Light as our days get shorter, physically darker. Also, may we pray to ever more eagerly look forward to the Son coming back . . .
CTL
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