"I think you know something I don't. Have you seen a great light? You hold a hope in your eyes like love waits just out of sight"--Out of the Grey.
This song always made me think about the prophecy concerning Jesus' ministry in Galilee: "In the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River--in Galilee where so many Gentiles live--the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined" (Matthew 4:15-16).
Zebulun and Naphtali are just Sunday school words to most of us. They were northern tribes in Israel. Ethnically diverse. "Highly populated. Open to new ideas." Cosmopolitan. In need of light. And Jesus was determined to shine there.
The human predicament is that people stumble around in darkness. We avoid light. Even in ourselves. Even though "we're as sick as our secrets." What would it mean for light to shine there? Where the worst stuff incubates. Where hope coagulates.
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it" (John 1:5).
If we crack open the basement door, even a little, light gets in. And I did that years ago. Cracked open the door. Thinking that was that. But all these years later I'm finding there's more. I can climb the stairs and breathe the fresh air. Light isn't just a dawning. One and done.
If I crawl out of the basement, there's a world out there. A well lit path. Jesus said, "Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!" (Matthew 6:23, MSG).
I'm an amateur at Advent, but I'm learning that the journey means more candles are progressively lit until all is well-lighted.
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