Last Christmas my kids received some little lights which are placed into the spokes of their bike tires. Each light consists of an LED contained within a plastic housing which attaches to the spoke itself. You can click the plastic housing down onto the LED in order to change the color of the light. My kids placed several in each tire so that, as the tires spun, the lights created circles of color. It made their bikes look like the bikes on Tron.
When we began to place the lights on the bike tires it wasn’t at all dark outside. The sun had set but dusk was still quite bright, so as my kids rode around with the newly placed lights on their bike tires, the effect was pretty unimpressive. Eventually, however, as darkness set in, the lights stood out more starkly, creating vivid colors as they spun. They were beautiful and the effect was quite impressive. The thing is, the lights were shining the entire time. It was only as darkness descended that they stood out starkly against their surroundings.
In the season of Advent we practice, as a church family and community, waiting in the darkness so as to see the light – the true light – the light of Christ. So much of Advent’s lectionary is focused on the end of the world, or end of the age. It’s the end of the world with wars and rumors of wars. It’s the end of the world where the moon turns to blood and the sun refuses to shine. It’s the end of the world where greed, anger, ignorance, power, prestige, and possessions are declared to be the way to ultimate and lasting happiness.
This is the season where we practice seeing the light of Christ in the darkness of our world. The apocalyptic language of Advent should describe the end of this world in our lives and the birth of Christ within us. Dietrich Bonheoffer said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” The Apostle Paul tells us we are baptized into the death of Christ. This is language that pushes us toward rebirth – the old creation passes away and a new one is born. It is the darkness of this world that serves as the apocalypse – or revelation – of the light.
May we spend time this Advent reacquainting ourselves with the light – through prayer, stillness, and love. Our media-saturated, consumer-driven culture distracts us from experiencing that light. We must, as former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, said, let God “get at us” through prayer. And then we need to let that experience with the light change us, so we can then carry that light into the lives of others.
Wheat & Tares 
Simply beautiful, Cody
I admit to some holy envy for the liturgical calendars of high church denominations and the spiritual practices that are tied to that calendar. Well, to a degree — I’m not Mr. Spiritual so I’m not sure I could really get into that sort of spiritual cycle. But it is such a contrast to the LDS calendar which revolves around (wait for it …) meetings: General Conference twice a year, punctuated by ward conference and stake conference and the annual Primary Program. And don’t forget the annual LDS ritual of The Changing of the Time, where the early 9 am ward becomes the late 11 am ward and vice versa.
I’ve had an occasion these past 5-6 years to work with many, many people who have been “broken” by life in some way. Many of our employees have had to really fight to survive in life; sometimes against enormous odds. There are many older men and women, single mothers – old and young, people without a home, people who were financially destroyed by the financial collapse in 2008 and even those recovering from devastating illnesses. (We sometimes jokingly refer to ourselves as “The Island of Misfit Toys” from the old Christmas cartoon)
This experience has caused me to emblazon on my mind and heart, a motto that I intend living by; for whatever the remainder of my life might be. This is: “I will be as kind as I possibly can, in as many circumstances as I can and to smooth the way for as many as I can; especially those who have known little kindness through the course of their lives”.
It has really melted my heart to see so many who have been “broken” and “thrown away” who are so thankful for a smile, a kind word, a warm “cup of Joe” and a host of any other of the smallest of kindnesses. It has also made me despise all the more, those who consider themselves to be “better than”, “smarter than”, “more spiritual than”, “more deserving than” , “more insightful than” or “better looking than” anybody else. In my gut, I still have a special, tight little ball of fury for those who toy with people’s lives; within the safety of considering them resources to be consumed and data to be studied; rather than the human beings they are!
Beautifully done, Cody.
Lefthandloafer: I appreciate the Benedictine rule:
“Let all guests who arrive be received as Christ, because He will say: ‘I was a stranger and you took Me in’.”
It sounds similar to yours.
It is a wondrous time of the year. Thank you for these thoughts.