In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-3, 14
Understanding the light. This week of advent we turn to focus on love. I’m sure there are many things I could quote about love (love is a many splendored thing, love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love…), but instead I keep returning to this thought of light shining in the darkness.
There are many ways to be light in the darkness. One can saturate the darkness with intense floodlights, kinda like one would picture in a sudden police raid. It startles those in darkness and generally pisses people off. Then there’s the interrogation usage of light. The one intense spotlight shining on the accused, making him progressively more nervous and fearful until he finally caves into the demands. Or picture cockroaches running in fear as the light switch gets turned on. These are all ways for the light to shine in the darkness, but it is rare for the darkness to understand it.
But Jesus came as a light in the darkness full of grace and truth. Jesus came with love. He cared for the hurting, he cared for the oppressed and the outcast. He encouraged his followers to love as well. He wasn’t harsh and blinding, but gentle and guiding. But he still was light in the darkness.
Sure there were some who didn’t understand his light. Others today who have turned his light into the harsh and the offensive instead of the loving and leading. But as we are called to speak of the incarnation we are called to do so in love. As it is written, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”
Let us not be clashing cymbals or harsh lights. Let us speak of truth and shine the light in the darkness with grace and with love.