light

it seemed so long that i was in the cave. still dark, still damp. my eyes started to adjust to the dark but it was still dark in the cave. i started trying to make my way out of the cave by feeling the sides. but i had been searching the cave so long that i forgot how long it might take to see the light. it seemed like forever since i had the comfort of the flashlight.my eyes were starting to make out the rocks and the form of the caves. i knew i was becoming ever closer to the freedom i once enjoyed. eventually, with a little luck and a lot despair i saw a little ray of sunshine. it brought comfort and hope. i had almost forgotten how gratifying the light could be. i started moving faster.

israel had been stuck in darkness approximately 700 years without hope. they prophet isaiah saw past the despair and in chapter 61:1 said

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners."

i remember when i was in high school my family went somewhere and this funny little kid was running around. he would close his eyes and say "i am blind" seconds later he would open his eyes and say, "i can see, it is a miracle." we would laugh with him and he would say it again and again. it was quite entertaining. but for someone who is blind and all they have is darkness it has to be frustrating.

israel had a lot of time without the presence of God in their lives and i can not imagine the despair they felt. the search of trying to fill the emptiness but never being able to fulfill it in their lives must of made them feel hopeless.

john 1:1-9 captures for me the essence of the christmas story. i always enjoy the reading of luke 2 but i love how john captures the incarnation.

"In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
God sent a man, John the Baptist,
to tell about the light so that
everyone might believe because of his testimony.
John himself was not the light;
he was simply a witness to tell about the light.
The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone,
was coming into the world."

like the child said. it is truly a miracle to be able to see. i love the advent season. it gives us expectation and restores us with hope. we know the light and as each week we become closer to christmas we light the candle of hope, and peace, and joy and love. it only builds to the incarnation.