Magic and Power of the Light

My grandfather, after retiring from both the Navy and public education, started a Christmas tree farm in my hometown. (The man could NOT sit still.) I spent the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas for much of my childhood working on the tree farm. And because they remind me of those magical times and my grandad, I love REAL Christmas trees. And before I developed an allergy to pine, I would buy the biggest one Drew would accept. I named them. I’m weird. I know.

So a few years ago, I bought a tree from the lot at the church. We put it in the stand, and there it sat, a bare, beautiful tree for a few days. And I loved it. I smelled it and looked at it and loved it. Then one day, I spent a few hours wrapping strands of lights around the branches – round and round; back and forth in semi-circles – and as I sat in the mostly dark room looking at these tiny, white lights covering this beautiful tree, I was reminded once again just how magical a simple strand of tiny, white lights can make a big, beautiful tree.

Light is a powerful thing. Turn on a nightlight in the room of a scared child and the shadows and monsters disappear. Open the blinds of a dreary room and the room immediately fills with life and energy. Put a tiny, white bulb on a big, old tree, and it goes from a tree to something magical.  

Our world is filled with darkness – monsters both real and imaginary. There is political and social darkness to be found in every corner of our world. Our lives are too busy and filled with stress – darkness. Teens and children are constantly faced with self-doubt, stress, bullying, too much pressure – darkness. It’s everywhere. It’s pervasive. It’s oppressive. And sometimes it feels like the darkness has come right to your room. Sometimes you can feel the darkness sitting right beside you. 

But so many years ago, God sent us light. It wasn’t the light everyone expected. It wasn’t a huge spotlight that cleared away all of the dark corners in our world. Instead, it was a tiny, little light in the form of a baby. And he put a little of it in you and he put a little of it in me. And if we let the light inside us shine – in a smile, in holding a door, in a kind word, in an Angel Tree gift, in hugs and encouragement, in doing the right thing, in truly seeing the people we encounter, in praying for and with those around us – we can help dispel the darkness sitting beside our neighbors. We can dispel the darkness that has come to someone else’s room. We can chase away the fears and monsters and sadness that seem to fill our world. And on days when the darkness comes to your room and sits down beside you, you just have to remember the magic and power of our one light. Remember that it burns inside you. Remember that it never leaves. 

God is with you. He is in you, and he will dispel the darkness.  

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:4-5

In His Light,
Leslie Bowers
Director of Creative Services