Longing for the Light

Thanksgiving weekend, while watching the long, wet and nasty football game between Baylor and TCU, the lights in our house began to flicker.

They went on…then they went off. Then they went on…then they went off. (You get the picture.) It was the first ice storm of the season.

As my husband and I scrambled to find flashlights and candles, the electricity sputtered out a final time. We were in the dark.

“Happy Pitch Black Friday,” Sarah, our daughter-in-law, quipped.

Soon the four of us were settled around the fireplace. Our son, Logan treated us to a mini (and rather silly) concert on his dad’s guitar. My niece kept us apprised of the Baylor/TCU game via text. ITunes allowed us to play music and reminisce over a few old songs. (How did we get through a power outage before cell phones?) Facebook allowed us to see where the power was out in the rest of the city.

It was the start of a dark, cold weekend.

I’m sure you saw the news – Oklahoma had a crippling ice storm that left over 90,000 homes without power. The roads were clear, but the amount of rain and freezing temperatures decimated our trees, which in turn decimated our power lines.

Driving in from church on Sunday evening, we were excited to see lights in our neighborhood. The Wal-Mart grocery store had light…the convenience store had light…the Mexican restaurant had light. We turned onto our street and…nothing.

Not a light. Only darkness. We still had no power.

By Monday evening, the fun had worn off. Larry was working late and I had been teaching a bible study so it was dark when I drove home. I knew from Facebook posts that some of our neighbors had power. I had passed at least eight electric trucks on the way down the winding road towards our house. I was anticipating making the final curve and seeing the light shining on my porch.

There it was…LIGHT…on my street! The entire south side of the road was brightly lit. Christmas lights were shining again.

But not at my house. I live on the north side of the street. It was still steeped in darkness.

I pulled in the driveway and stared at my porch light. I knew I needed to grab a flashlight, go inside and rummage around for clothes to take to my niece and nephew’s home. (We had stayed there the night before.) Instead, I just sat there shivering. I didn’t want to leave. It was almost as if I was trying to will the power on by not moving.

“Oh man, I am just longing for that light,” I said out loud to no one in particular. “Come on power people, I know you are in the neighborhood. Can you just hurry it up a little?”

Fifteen minutes later, I repeated that thought as I was pulling out of my still-dark driveway and heading down the half-dark street. “Yep! I am just longing for the light.”

Then I realized what I had said. “We’re ALL just longing for the light, aren’t we Lord? Anticipating your return…waiting for the darkness to leave. Eager for you to hurry up and get here.”

That night, driving out of my neighborhood I was reminded why we celebrate Advent. It is a season dedicated to waiting. Waiting for the Christ to return. Waiting for peace to happen. Waiting for hope to arrive.

It represents both past and future: the Jewish people’s longing for their coming Messiah and the Christians’ anticipation of Christ’s return. It encompasses both joyous celebration and a fear of the unknown.

The truth is, we live in a world with lights on one side of the street and darkness on the other – in the middle with both a hidden longing for peace and an instinct to protect ourselves. The lion isn’t quite ready to lie down with the lamb.* There is still tension and confusion and evil.

John 1:9-14 tells us, “The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”

When news is sad and burdens are heavy, when politics is polarizing and evil seems rampant, when there is a longing for something we don’t quite understand…He is here.

Best of all…this confusion, this chaos, is no match for His peace. He has come right in to the middle of where we are so we might have light…abundant light that lives in the midst of darkness and illuminates the world.

 

*Isaiah 11:1-10

The electric was fixed late that same night. It was a welcome sight.