Christmas Light
The winter solstice will be here on Monday December 21st. The winter solstice is the shortest day of the entire year. It is the first day of winter and the day we are the farthest from the sun. On this day, we have the fewest hours of daylight in the entire year. Science has shown us the importance of light in many ways, from leaves on our trees dying due to the lack of light needed to studies that show the importance of light for our moods. There is even a form of depression that is attributed to the lack of sunlight. It is called Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. How is SAD cured? With Light.
We can take a lesson from this when it comes to our spiritual life. It is the winter of our lives when we sometimes feel farthest from God. We feel something missing. Many people try and fill it with things from this world. It may be material things or even an addiction or some other abuse. The cure for this is the same as it is for SAD, we need to be exposed to light. This light, though, is the light of Christ himself. There is no coincidence that during these longest days of the year we take time to decorate our house with lights. We are trying to drive away the darkness with these lights as we celebrate the coming of Christ into the world. As John 12:46 tells us, “I have come into the world as a light so no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” Christ is here to chase away the darkness. To fill the voids in our lives.
We just need to step out of the shadows of this world and bathe in the light that is Christ. As we allow this to happen, we ourselves become illuminated. We become the creation Christ meant us to be. He not only is the Light of the World, but he calls us to also be the light of the world. He tells us we are the light meant for all to see. Just like the seasonal light grows from the winter solstice, we can grow the spiritual light Christ gives us at this time of year to grow and illuminate others. Remember, just as it was a light of a star that lead the Wise Men to Christ, we can also lead others to Christ with our light. We can use this time to become like the decorative lights on our homes, but we would be true Christmas Lights.