Lights in the Darkness

Last week I got some spare time to decorate the offices at work. When I was done, darkness had fallen outside and I could see the electric Christmas lights reflecting merrily in the blackened windows. It reminded me of a exclamation I heard many years ago: "In this time of such darkness - there are so many LIGHTS!"

As we draw closer to Christmas Day, we also draw closer to the solstice. Here in the north, the days have been getting shorter; I head to work before sunrise and sunset is before 4:30 in the afternoon now, so it's dark heading home. But the closer we get to the darkest time of the year, more and more people hang Christmas lights.

Trees are aglow outside and seen through windows. Lights are strung on bushes, windowpanes and doorways. Little lights flicker in paper bags along driveways and walkways. As one popular song reports: "Even stoplight blink a bright red and green."

While we enter into the darkest part of the year, we do our part to make it a little brighter - a little merrier. When we face other dark times - personally, as a community, as a country or globally - I pray we remember what we do during these seasonal periods of darkness, and do the same: SHARE OUR LIGHT!

- ESA