Daily Light: Reflections for Holy Times - Move Toward the Light

Move Toward the Light

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”

- Isaiah 9:2

As I pray with Isaiah 9:2 a striking image forms in my head. I am looking from above on a vast teeming mass of people. Most of the crowd is in deep darkness, but there is bright light illuminating a pie-shaped wedge of the crowd. I become aware of a deep desire to move into that wedge of light and be a part of the people milling about there.

What does this image have to say to me? Is there an invitation here? The most striking parts of the image are the brightness of the light in contrast to the vast and deep darkness, and the wedge shape of the light, growing wider and wider the further it travels from the point.

Perhaps because it is Advent, my thoughts turn to the story of the Wise Men. In the vast darkness of the sky, they see a point of light, a rising star that beckons them to follow. And when they reach the manger, above which the star is shining, they find God breaking anew into the world in human form.

We don’t know much about the Wise Men; their story appears only in Matthew. Warned by a dream, we know they travel home by a different route than the one by which they came. I like to think they understood they needed to protect the light coming into the world, and to carry it home to their communities.

So, in the context of the Wise Men, the brightness and starkness of the light shining amidst the darkness in my image makes more sense to me. It is the brightest of lights, the greatest of lights. It illuminates God’s presence in the world. It is God sharing himself with humanity.

And now, I have a new understanding of the wedge shape, the spreading beam of light. What might be at the point of the wedge? I’m not sure. It could be the manger and the Wise Men, or perhaps the moment in Genesis when God first created the light, or any of the other times in between when God has tried to reach his people.

But I do think now I understand the general shape. As each of us finds the light and begins to carry it, it grows ever outward. Its reach increases exponentially as we begin to share it and invite it to shine through us. The wedge gets bigger and bigger, and God increases in the world.

And so finally, I see my Advent invitation in this scripture and in this image. God is inviting me to move towards the light always, not the darkness, and as I reach it, to share it with others.

Diane Bricker

Spiritual Director

RH Covenant Partner