“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
—John 1:5
Dear friends,
The children have been thinking about how the church tells time. As we enter into the Advent season, they will continue to learn through lighting the Advent Candles as we mark the Sundays before Christmas. This tradition, lighting candles in an evergreen wreath during Advent, has a long and meaningful history. It’s not known when the first Advent wreath was created, but pagan rituals often included lighting candles in a wreath to signify hope for the return of the sun in the midst of winter. Perhaps it was in Northern Europe during the Middle Ages, that Christians borrowed this ancient custom and incorporated it into the celebration of Christmas.
Advent is full of symbolism. Evergreen boughs and wreaths remind us of everlasting life, and the circle represents the continuous love of God, with no beginning and no end, as well the eternal cycle of the seasons. Lighted candles signify the persistence of life in the midst of winter. For Christians, they are a reminder of the light of God’s love that came in the miraculous birth of the baby Jesus, and the presence of that love in our lives. The Christmas story continues into January with the ones who followed the light of a star to find the Christ child.
We are so comforted by this light. We yearn for this light—candle light, star light, love light—as we move through the darkness in our lives…whatever struggles we’re facing, the promise of God’s love that we know in Christ and through Christ in one another is a light to guide our way. Let’s open our eyes and ears and hearts for this holy and healing light…a spirit so beautifully captured by Anne Weems in this poem,
Is it all sewn up – my life?
Is it at this point so predictable
So orderly, so neat, so arranged, so right,
That I don’t have time or space
For listening for the rustle of angels’ wings
Or running to stables to see a baby?
Could this be what he meant when he said
Listen, those who have ears to hear…
Look, those who have eyes to see?
O God, give me the humbleness of those shepherds
Who saw in the cold December darkness
The Coming of Light
Blessings for a light-filled Christmas,
Karen Nell