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Out Our Way : This little light

Isaiah 9:2/John 1:5

Out our way, the weather can change quickly. Strong winds blow in a foot of snow knocking out power and tearing cottonwoods to pieces — and a week later a chinook comes in and begins to melt the damage. One of the advantages of the Hi-Line is that winter usually comes in sections, a blizzard and a chinook or at least a thaw — and then another blizzard. Sometimes we get the same type of winter as they get back East, where the snow begins to fall in October and stays on the ground until May. But mostly we get a series of mini-winters and min-springs.

Another thing I noticed over the years is that, with low humidity, our cold and our heat are not so severe as in other places even when the temperature is the same as Chicago or Boston. It does usually warm up rather quickly when the sun comes up and cools down fairly soon after the sun sets. And this is really good news for those out in the hills, for night time in the Bear Paws as well as the Rockies and the Highwoods and Belts etc. can get mighty chilly.

I recall one morning in the Bob when the night had really been cold and although we could see the rise reflected on some of the taller trees and the hills, it was still freezing down in our cold camp. But seeing that faint glimmer of light up high and knowing the sun was coming gave us all great joy — for as cold as it still was down below, we saw the sign of warmth and light approaching and knew the cold was not going to last.

The anaology of sunrise is a common one used in the Scriptures for the coming of Christ into the world. This coming Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent when a single candle is lit on the Advent Wreath. One candle does not give much light, but in Advent is represents the start of the new Day — the first glimmer of Dawn and the start of the New Day.

Isiah speaks of the dawn coming on the people wandering in darkness and the hope it brings. John speaks of Christ as the Light Isaiah prophesied and the marvelous hope it offers to those who look up and see it.

Einstein once noted something to the effect that there is no such thing as darkness because dark does not exist in a positive sense — for it has no substance. Dark is simply the void, the absence of light. And while we may know how many lightbulbs and what wattage will light up a room, no amount of darkness can snuff out a single candle. Light exists; darkness does not for it is the absence of existence.

Yet even darkness has its uses. The Star of Bethlehem, which astronomers now think was the conjunction of the orbits of two planets in our system that would have been seen in the Middle East at the time of Christ’s birth, as bright as it would have been at night, in the daytime it would likely not be seen or noticed at all. As Isaiah put it, “he people who walked in darkness saw a great light.” God brought to light both literally and figuratively with the star — and with the birth of Christ.

Yup, it gets cold in the hills and sometimes even the coyotes howl is sounded through chattering teeth. But when that first slice of light hits the peaks and the tree tops, as cold as it is down below, we are filled with hope and good cheer for the dawn has begun and the new day is on its way. Advent celebrates the “son” rise and that small little candle is the promise of things to come. Celebrate the Light and the end of the darkness. We may still stumble in the shadows, but they too will soon be gone and we see as we are sen and know as we are known. Blessings!

Lots of folks are in darkness right now — terrible sorrows, grief, health issues, fear and anxieties. It’s pretty dark for a lot of folks. But by just taking the time to say you care and let them know you are there will light a candle in their gloom. Maybe yours will just be the first of many yet to come until the dawn finally arrives and the Light shines fully. But, for now, you are the light of the world. Let your love shine, especially this time of year.

——

John Bruington

 

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