Editor’s note: Columns in the Faith section reflect opinions and perspectives of the writer and are not necessarily those of The Republic.
“The Light shines in the darkness; and the darkness has not overcome it,” John 1:5.
I once saw an article titled “Christmas Always Comes At Night.”
I take that as recognition that Christmas doesn’t begin until midnight on Dec. 25. Before that, all day on the 24th, people celebrate Christmas and call it “Christmas Eve.” But that’s on the secular calendar. On the liturgical calendar, Christmas begins at sundown on Dec. 24.
No matter which calendar you observe, Christmas begins after the sun has descended. The Christian church celebrates Christmas for 12 days, which ends on Jan. 5.
Christmas comes under the cover of darkness. For some strange reason, the image of Christmas coming at night fits human experience.
Just ask anybody who has lost a loved one on, or near, the Christmas season. You never forget a time like that. It marks your personal calendar like nothing else.
My father died suddenly on Dec. 30. My first wife died two days after July 4, which was her favorite day in her favorite month. At a time when the nation celebrates freedom, the crops are flourishing, and the weather is hot with life, the cold hand of death entered the house.
We speak often of “holiday depression.” Perhaps we expect so much of the holidays that any sadness or grief is magnified. At any rate, there are moments when Christmas is a dark and depressing time. But, as Christians, we hear good news.
The good news is that “Christmas always comes at night.” That fact helps us to recognize that Christmas is a time of true depth of soul.
The good news is that Christ, the Light of the World, comes to us in the darkness and the cold grip of death. Even people who live in Florida know how cold and dark the world can be, but God shines an enduring light into the cold darkness of our lives.
This year, 2020, has been a year to which most of us want to bid “farewell” Goodbye, 2020! Here’s your hat! What’s your hurry? Please do not come back.
But it is precisely into this kind of darkness that Jesus Christ is born. His birth is the birth of God in human flesh. God takes human life, with all of its blessings and curses, upon himself.
We see Christmas in context. We see Christmas in the context of The Cross. God comes to take all our sufferings, sin, and sorrow upon himself.
There is more than “sunset” in our lives. Nightfall is not the only thing we experience. Ernest Hemingway once titled a book, “The Sun Also Rises”.
Indeed, even the darkest, coldest night eventually gives way to sunrise. What better way to picture the Gospel of our Lord Jesus? We experience the cold, sadness, and death. But The Son of God rises. The dark night of sin and sorrow falls upon all of us; but the Son of God also rises.
