The energy of light

The prophet Isaiah speaks. Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem. Your light has come. The glory of the Lord shines upon you. If we think of Jerusalem as the promise God has in store for each of us, then this is a time for us to face the light, to rejoice in God’s glory, to see ourselves as the glory of God’s creation. That’s what the liturgy would hope for us. But can we really see this light? Can we really rejoice?

The writer Doris Lessing tells us that bad times come and we don’t know why. We are nearing the end of the Church’s Christmas season. Has it been a time of light or has it been a bad time? Has there been illness, unhappiness, loss of job, a lot of death? Does the earth seem to shift around you? Are people dying, breaking down, are friendships and marriages crumbling? Does there seem to be fear, pretense and silence?

Father Ron Rolheiser claims life has its seasons and we know each of them in the experience of our own lives. We know spring and autumn, winter and summer. We know both warmth and heaviness. It seems both complex and simple: Life is an eternal rhythm, a repetition. We live, then die.

Yet there is often a break in this rhythm. Life surprises us with freshness. It is mysterious, wonderful, and unbelievable! Each day we feel its many joys. If we stop to notice, we become aware of life. We exult in being alive. We are creatures with bodies and minds capable of loving. Our senses become enriched. Things like eating and sleeping are great gifts. Just being alive and knowing that we are alive is healthy. The sun shines and we feel well. We don’t ask about it and we don’t know why it is so. We are at peace. We walk on steady ground. We smile and have confidence.

But being human often seems unfair. We sense it is less fair for some than for others. In this awareness too, we can feel compassion for those who are wounded.

Is this the way it will always be? Will life always repeat itself, good times then bad, storms then sunshine? Or is there more? Can we look into the light a little more closely? The three astrologers who appear in the Scripture for the Feast of the Epiphany use what they know, their skills in reading the stars, and they see a light they’ve never seen before. It is a curious light, no more visible in the darkness than in the sunshine; it is a surprising light for it should not be there, it goes against the rhythm. What is it like when they find it is the Christ? It brings light and with it the promise of something new. It is so new, in fact, that it not only gives them hope.

But the same light frightens the king Herod. What can this mean? It suggests that Herod will no longer be in control. His power and authority are at stake. Perhaps there is a Herod who lives within each of us. What frightens us? Are we afraid of losing control? What power is threatened within us?

We receive an invitation to look into the light of Christ and to welcome the child who offers us so much hope and promise. Will bad times be taken away from us? Probably not. Will good times be ours? Perhaps. That is why it is always risky to look into the light. It may blind us such that we no longer know who we are or where we are. It may also energize us that we see in a new way and find life we never thought possible.