As we approach this season to celebrate the birth of the “Light of the World” and the “Prince of Peace,” the reality of our chaotic world hangs around our necks like the ghost of Jacob Marley’s chains in “A Christmas Carol.”
If biblical revelation tells us anything, it is that we live in a world of darkness. It is a world infected with human greed. It is a world filled with the darkness of violence, war, division, chaos, and prejudice.
On a daily basis, the evening news does not bear good tidings of great joy but begins with stories of the latest act(s) of violence, tragedy, and war. The mantra of the television news media seems to be, “If it bleeds, it leads.”
Photo by Gary Ellis on Unsplash
Epictetus, a famous philosopher of the ancient world and a contemporary of the New Testament gospel writer Luke, was quoted as saying, “While the emperor may give peace from war on land and sea, he cannot give peace from passion, grief, and envy. He cannot give peace of heart.”
Those who look to their government to provide them with those aspects that fulfill the needs of the human spirit are doomed to an empty soul. If we are honest with our deepest human longings, it is for peace — personal inner peace, family peace, and a world at peace.
There are those persons and forces in our world that gain political power and enormous financial power by manipulating the darker elements of our world. Light and truth are their enemy.
In taking a tour of a cave, the tour guide will almost inevitably stop in the deepest depths and turn out all the lights. In that moment, those on the tour will experience total blindness. One literally cannot see their own hand when held directly in front of their face.
On one such tour of a cave, the crafter of this piece experienced such a moment of momentary blindness when the tour guide turned off the lights. Then, after a few seconds of being unable to see, he lit a match.
The amazing truth that moment revealed to all in the group was that though the darkness was heavy and deep, it could not extinguish the light of that tiny match. In the New Testament, John 1:5 says, “The light shines in darkness and darkness has not overcome it.”
So many of our Christmas traditions are derived from pagan history and have no relevance to the true essence of the meaning of the arrival in human history of the “Light of the World,” the “Prince of Peace.” But God is with us in human form. Herein lies the great truth for all who claim to believe in and follow Jesus.
A classic article published in Christianity Today holds the title “Love With Skin on It.” This is a description of the birth of Jesus and God’s breaking into human history.
We who celebrate the birth of Jesus and seek to follow the life and teachings of Jesus are called upon to be “love with skin on it” in our daily lives. In so doing, we flesh out the true meaning of the Christmas story, the birth of Jesus, as we become His light in dispelling the darkness in our world.
Edward “Ned” Walsh is a retired Baptist denominational worker.
