December 24, 2021

What came into existence was Life,
    and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
    the darkness couldn’t put it out.  John 1:4-5  (The Message)

One of my core beliefs is that there is no such thing as “too many” Christmas lights. My family will tell you that it’s not Christmas until I make an extra trip to the store to buy “just a few more lights.” There’s always room for one more strand of light somewhere - on the tree, on the porch, in the window. 

The shepherds on that long-ago hillside were ambushed with light. The glory of a multitude of angels must have stopped them in their tracks. The shepherds experienced the Light in a brilliant flash in the middle of the dark night. 

The Light, it seems, often hits me like that. I can be trekking along on an ordinary day, doing my work, washing up the dishes, running errands, when I am struck by the extraordinary beauty of life. It can be a ring-necked pheasant in my backyard, Christmas lights on a porch, a glimpse of Cape Blomidon in the distance, or the face of my grandson filling the screen of my phone, and I find my eyes are filled with tears of love and joy. When we are tuned into the presence of God in our lives, we can be stopped in our tracks like the shepherds with a light so real and blinding that we have no choice but to pause, blink, and look with wonder at the beauty that is life. 

We catch glimpses of that life-light throughout each day. I find that the more I pay attention to these moments of joy, of love, of peace, the more of these moments I have. Every experience has this potential if we can but stop and see the light within it. Love surprises us, blinds us, touches our hearts so that we are indeed people saying “Glory to God in the highest.. and on earth, peace.” 

On this Christmas eve, as the Light of Love is born into our world, I remember these words from Thomas Merton.

Life is this simple.
We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent.

And God is shining through it all the time.
This is not just a fable or a nice story
It is true.   

Prayer: Light of all lights, help us to shine your love into our world so desperately in need of the hope, peace, joy, and love that you bring. 

Anita Flowers wishes everyone a very merry Christmas.