Advent Calendar Day 2

Have you ever had someone say something to you that seems like an odd thing to say?  Perhaps it was someone who mentioned a gift or quality you have that you didn’t think anyone else noticed?  Maybe it was about something you were feeling led to do, but had not told anyone else?  Perhaps, someone said a comment out of the blue to you, something you had never thought of before, and when they said it, you knew it was something important to you and you could think of nothing else?  Mary had that kind of experience.

The angels of the Bible always say something to the effect of “do not be afraid,” or “fear not.”  A visit from a messenger from God tends to rattle us—maybe even startle us.  It definitely shakes up our world—our routine—and we find we are never the same again.  It is of significant importance to us, and we should never simply write it off as all our imagination.  Quite often we are visited by “angels” who inspire us, affirm us, encourage us, and guide us.  God uses all types of people to bring us God’s message. 

This Advent let us be watching for those “angels” God sends our way.  We should also watch for those opportunities and inspiration when we convey a message from God and are an angel to another.

Advent Calendar - Day 1

You do not need to be afraid of the dark to know that you can injure yourself if you are unable to see.  Stumbling around in the dark is slow-going.  There are obstacles and pitfalls.  When the electricity goes out, especially if there is a blackout in the neighborhood and no streetlights to shine into the windows, we realize that the dark is very, very dark. 

The dark can feel oppressive, even heavy.  It is always such a comfort to light a candle, turn on a flashlight, or start a fire to bring light into the dark.  I have noticed on such occasions that in pitch blackness, the glow of even the smallest light can bring light to a wide area.  It is almost as if the light pours around the room, spilling over into the darkness. 

I have never been in a blackened room in which I have lit a candle or turned on a flashlight that the darkness spread into the light rather than the light into the darkness.  Darkness will not ever overcome the light.  When I light more candles and place them around the room the collective light chases the darkness into the recesses and corners.  Only a few shadows remain.  Shadows remain even in well-lit rooms, but the light chases the shadows around allowing no place for them to hide.

It is like that with the light of Christ.  There is darkness in the world, this is undeniable.  But the light of Christ spills over into the darkness, and the darkness of this world will never overcome this light.  We who bear the light of Christ multiply this light in the world, bringing light to even the darkest places. 

This Advent let us prepare ourselves to be bearers of the light of Christ to a world in darkness.