"Arise,
shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you."
(Isaiah. 60.1)
In the pre-dawn darkness of a
recent Sunday morning I saw a light.
Of course I saw many lights
shining in the darkness of that early hour as I was
driving to Carlisle, Pennsylvania where I am the student
intern (the Vicar) at St. Paul's Lutheran Church. In the
yards of the many homes I passed I saw figures of deer
lit up with small bright white lights, there was a house
with two windows that flashed a red Santa in a green
sleigh, and there were many homes with their roofs
outlined with white icicle lighting or multicolored
lights outlining trees and shrubs. All of these were
interesting and I enjoyed the scenery as I made my way
along the road to St. Paul's. However, these Christmas
lights did not cause me to slow down nor did I need to
ponder more deeply about why these decorations were put
up each year.
"For darkness shall cover
the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord
will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over
you." (Isa. 60.2)
As I drove along I kept looking
up through the tree limbs and watching this one solitary
light I mentioned earlier. I thought that it was strange
to see this lonely light shining solo from its high
vantage point up on the ridge. At first it looked small,
but the more I watched it, the more I recognized that it
was made more brilliant because it was shining out of
the immense darkness of those mountains that appear just
to the west and north of Idaville along route 34. The
light was enhanced further as it contrasted with the
black ink covered skies above. The more I thought about
it, the more I concluded that it must be a very large
light because it had shined so brightly from so far
away; I wondered who put it there?
Whoever put up that light must
have been thinking about the many people who would see
it, they must have wanted the viewers to know about the
joyful coming of God's light to the world, the light
that we celebrate in the season of Epiphany. I thought
about the many people who live in the dark places of our
world. Darkness can exist in many dimensions of our
lives. It can be literal, as when we don't get enough of
the sunlight that our bodies need for good health, or it
can be spiritual, as when we become deprived of the
goodness and love that God made us in and desires for us
to have always.
Seeing the light up on the
ridge, and thinking of the community upon which it was
shining brought me a level of gratitude for the comfort
and hope represented by its brightness and rays. The
person or persons who had erected this light and who
were paying for the power used to make it shine were
demonstrating their love and concern for all who would
see it. Like Isaiah's verses written to the people of
Israel who desperately needed reassurance that they were
loved and sought after by God; so also, as many as would
look up into the darkness of the night and see this
light, these ones would be directed toward answers to
their questions about the Source of hope and love. May
we also become beacons of hope and love as we embrace
the light of Christ come to us in this season of
Epiphany.
"Then you shall see and be
radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice . . . . for
the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of
Israel, because he has glorified you." (Isa. 60.5,
9b)
Peace and good will to all!