Advent
December 13, 2014
Scripture Reading: John 1:6-8, 19-28
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. — John 1:6-8
My mother, born in 1908, grew up in a time when light, in general, was provided by the sun, the moon, on perhaps on a very clear night by the stars. The family had lanterns and candles, if absolutely necessary, but their lives were basically shaped around the natural availability of light.
My “guest” room is actually my office filled with a computer and monitor, two printers, and a modem with seven little blue and green blinking lights all in a row. Not to mention the digital clock by the bed and the digital telephone on the desk. The first night Mom came to stay with me, after she had gone to bed, she called out to tell me that I had left several little lights on in the room. I had shut the computer down and I actually had no idea what she was talking about when I entered the room and began to look around and there they all were. I recalled that she had frighten my sister once when she failed to answer the telephone. Arriving at Mom’s home to see what was wrong, my sister discovered that Mom routinely unplugged the phone by her bed to turn off the little light. The discovery of electricity and the electric light bulb changed our lives forever. Those of us who did not live through that change, take the availability of artificial light for granted every day. Even when the electricity is off for some reason we have our battery powered backups.
Advent is a time of year, each year, when we as individuals and as communities of faith throughout the world take the time to remember the time before the Light of Christ was introduced into the world. We do this for many reason, but one of them surely is to remind us to not take the gift of the Christ Child for granted.
Prayer: Light of the World, let your light shine through and among us so that the whole world can know a clearer vision of your love. Amen.