Light in the Darkness

wendydfolsom
Dec 15, 2022
2 min read

This year my family's faith journey has been messy and complicated and I've been stumbling my way through a faith-stage transition. Though part of me longs to rejoice in the triumph of Love, Light and Life over death, despair and darkness--to "sing the song of Redeeming love"--it sometimes feels like the air has been sucked out of my lungs. Recently I was reminded of an experience years ago, sitting alone on a church pew, holding a fussy baby through the Christmas service and wanting to go home but unable to as I was to give the concluding prayer. I sat there bereft and miserable, thinking "this isn't what Christmas is supposed to be like." I was suffering from depression that year and felt spiritually dark and devoid of 'Christmas spirit.' I wondered what I could say in a prayer that would lift others when I felt so low. As I pondered I was reminded that how I was feeling was exactly why Christ had come. It wasn't because life is full of light and joy and perfection, but because it is full of darkness, disappointment & longing that His birth and mission are so joyful.

This is the darkest season of the year, and for that reason it is the season in which light has been celebrated around the world for millennia. Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Lunar New Year, Santa Lucia Day, Winter Solstice, Yule, Las Posadas and Christmas are all winter celebrations of light, goodness, hope and joy. Apparently we humans need to remember and honor light in the darkness.

Do you long for light? Has your journey through life been shadowed with grief, confusion, disconnection, doubt, or disappointment? You are not alone. And you can find light.

Some things that have helped me find light in the darkness: