Spreading the light

Have you noticed the increasing light in the morning and evening? I love to watch the sun as it comes over and through the mountains in the morning. I can often see the light shining on the mountains before I can actually see the sun itself. In the evening, too, the daylight lingers longer each day, giving us a chance to be at home, perhaps having dinner while it is daylight.

The Epiphany season coincides with this increasing light. During this time of year, we celebrate the light of Christ which spreads to every corner of the earth. This year our Epiphany season is long, continuing through February. It is a time of rejoicing before the more penitential season of Lent which follows.

One Epiphany hymn says it like this: “In Him there is no darkness at all, the night and the day are both alike.[1]” God’s vision is not like ours; God is Light, or as the gospel writer John puts it: “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

If we humans don’t make the light, what do we do? Like the mountains in the morning, we can reflect the light, even when we can’t see it. Our confidence comes from knowing a God that searches for every last one of us, whether we know it or not. Our trust comes from knowing that God walks with us, whether we can feel it or not. As another Epiphany hymn puts it, “We will walk with God ‘till the Kingdom has come”[2] 

Finally, as reflections of God’s light, we need not worry about whether we have God’s light or not. We can simply sing, “Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.”[3]

[1] Glory to God. Westminster Press. Louisville, KY “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light.” #377

[2] Glory to God. Westminster Press. Louisville, KY “We Will Walk with God.” #742

[3] Glory to God. Westminster Press. Louisville, KY “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light.” #377