By Chad Hershberger

This Advent season, I’ve been thinking about light. We see Advent candles, Christmas tree lights, and outdoor decorations with lights. At this time of year, the darkest that we annually see, light is a necessity. In fact, after a string of dreary dark days this month, I was overjoyed to see the sun!

Have you ever gone caving? Have you ever gone down in a cavern with no light and walked around the rooms and trails that have been made over time? When I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to go caving. It was a good experience. We were told to take two flashlights a piece, but I didn’t know why. I soon found out that when we were down in the depths of the earth it was extremely dark. If your flashlight’s batteries died, you better have a backup. Caves are indeed very dark places. No light at all shines there.

In her later years, my grandmother had a rechargeable flashlight she kept next to her bed. At night, when she needed to use the bathroom, she used the flashlight to find her way down the hall. In the morning, she would plug her flashlight into the kitchen receptacle to charge it up for the next night. It was her daily routine.

After her death, my family was standing next to her gravesite. We were engaged in a group hug and my dad, her son, remarked that Grammy no longer needed her flashlight. Now, she had the light of Christ.

Can you imagine the darkness on the night of the Baby Jesus’ birth? I imagine it was a starlit night, if only for one bright star over Bethlehem. The shepherds didn’t have flashlights (or smartphones with a flashlight) but probably were huddled around fires for warmth and light. And then, there was light. As quickly as it appeared when God first created it, the light was shining in the darkness. The glow of a new baby, this one the savior of the world, lit up the stable. Angels singing glory to God in the fields above the shepherds showed them they had nothing to fear. Even though we think of it as night, it truly was the dawn of a new day.

We have the light of Christ in this world. God came down to us as a baby, led life as a human being, and was crucified on a cross to restore our relationship with the divine. He rose from the dead ensuring that we have eternal life. We get to live in the light forever! It will not be like a cave, a dark night in our house, or in the field at camp on a warm summer night. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it!

For a child was born for us. To bring light, and peace and love. May you feel that peace and love and see that light this Christmas and all throughout the year!