A Beauty in Darkness

Advent....we're into the second week and our monastery church reflects the season.  In addition to stained-glass windows,  we also have a lot of clear glass,  and so bare outlines of tree branches,  the steady and faithful color of the evergreens,  and the early darkness before Vespers all greet us as we enter this sacred space.  The movement of the sanctuary light flickering  over the tabernacle provides a sense of comfort and warm presence on  dark and chilly evenings.

So often we tend to think of darkness as negative and forbidding,  but it also provides a sense of quiet,  calm, rest, and healing.  Stars that disappeared at dawn return as the sun sets;  a bright, crisp moon makes itself known.

During this short but lovely liturgical season,  we listen to readings that promise the coming of God's light and life and love.  The promise is made to us as a people -- but the intimacy of darkness reminds us that the promise is also made to us as individuals:  to you,  to me,  to each person.  Christ's coming in the flesh continues in each of our lives, offering us a hope that goes beyond the everyday realities,  beyond death itself.  Jesus desires a unique relationship with each of us, and so  the promise is made to each of us with exquisite custom-tailoring.

Where to go with all this?  One way to hear the beautiful  overtones of Advent is to remember that as Jesus, whom we await,  is God's promise of light and life and love to us,  so we are to be that promise to others.  It doesn't have to be dramatic; a quiet word of understanding spoken to a spouse or child or friend,  a smile offered to an exhausted and  bedraggled  cashier,   a patient response to a co-worker or traffic jam  -- all of these, and more, bring the real light of Christmas closer.  Jesus uses us to continue his coming.

So as Advent moves forward,  let us too move forward,  welcoming the darkness with its promise of new light and in turn being that light, even in some small daily way, to those God places in our path.





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