No–I am not including pictures of my Christmas lights or my Christmas tree this morning. I don’t have either up yet. Maybe today I will get those done; it is the feast of St. Nicholas, after all! Rather I want to talk about Jesus and us. He is often called the Light of the World. How appropriate, then, that we celebrate His birth in December—when in my part of the world it is dark so early in the evening. His light dispels our darkness, doesn’t it?
He tells us, His followers, “You are the light of the world”. How daunting! He tells us not to hide our light under a bushel basket. The world has, indeed in so many ways, become dark. Yet we can and do light it up. How do we do it? Well, this time of year some of us become extra generous to total strangers, don’t we? We give extra cash, food, and gifts to families or organizations in need. Of course these needs exist year round, but people are especially moved at Christmastime to help.
Beyond that, how are we lights? Well, in our work we are lights when we deal with others and our tasks with joy, honesty, and dedication. If we do this every day, no matter what our stressors, we become lights in our homes and workplaces. This can give others hope and inspire them. This can lighten the hearts of others and draw them to God. We cannot be God. But we can be lights. People need light or they crash into each other. Some of us are candles like little votive candles. Some of us are big, huge lights like the light from a lighthouse. Sometimes we may think we are merely tiny votive candles; but to someone else feeling especially down and lost, we may be a beacon of hope in his/her darkness.
Perhaps that is one of the reasons that Christmas lights on houses, bushes and on the Christmas trees bring us such joy. We may not realize it, but they light our way like God does. He dispels our darkness. He calls us, His followers, to do the same. We must! Don’t say you can’t or you don’t have the strength. We don’t need to have or rely on our own strength—we have His. He is the light within each of us. All we have to do is let it shine through us–our thoughts, words, and deeds….That is how we become the light of the world Jesus wants us to be.
In keeping with that theme: here is my sketch of a light :-). Be brave. Be courageous. Be the light!!! The world needs a lot of light these days.
You are the light of the world
Believe Anyway 
I love the way you express yourself. Very beautiful writing, Kate. Thanks for blogging! Stimulating reading and so appropriate for this time of the year.
thank you so much. I do love blogging—and it makes me happy that you are enjoying it!
There is a book out called BE SHINY. It is built on the verses in Philippians 2:15-16 …shine like stars of the universe as you hold out the word of life…
We used to have candle services that began in a dark room. One person lights one candle and from it, we can see that no amount of darkness can overcome that light. Then he uses his candle to light two others, who use theirs to light two others, and so on, until the whole enourmous room is full of light. That showed how the light can spread and how quickly. You can tell I love this topic!
Gosh I love everything in Philippians!!! I will have to read Be Shiny. I love the title!
We do that candle service you speak of every year at Easter Vigil Service (the night before Easter morning). It is so, so beautifully moving….and at my college orientation we did that with the candles….while we sang This Little Light of Mine. Yeah—love the candles….Be the Light 🙂