It is common in Advent to encounter the juxtaposition of the themes of light and darkness. In fact, they are found in the familiar, beautiful words of the prophet Isaiah alluding to the coming of the Savior.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
They lived in a land of shadows,
but now light is shining on them.. (Isaiah 9:2)
A friend of mine shared a childhood experience of the novelist, Robert Lewis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island. The gist of the story was that on one occasion the delicate, young Robert was discovered by his nurse sitting with his nose pressed up against the glass of his bedroom window. He was thoroughly captivated by the scene of a lamplighter busily lighting the streetlamps below. The nurse, worried about her fragile charge, beckoned him away from the frosty windowpane into the warmth of his bedroom. Her charge, the young Robert, resisted her bidding, insisting that he wanted to continue to watch the man who poked holes in the darkness.
Is it not Advent’s clarion call to spread light as we go about performing our daily duties? Each of us has the potential to be a "lamplighter," whether through kindness, compassion, or simply being present for others. The Advent season invites us not just to wait for the light but to actively participate in spreading it. How much brighter our neighborhoods would be if there were more “lamplighters” among us poking holes in the darkness.
You might be interested in reading the late Pastor Dr. Peter James Flamming’s sermon on Christian Life: Poking Holes in the Darkness.
“The Light Shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John 1:5
-Sister Nancy Wales, CSJ
Image: Paolo Nicolello @paul_nic/Unsplash