Dear Church Family and Friends,
Danalyn likes lights. Occasionally to soothe her crying I will take her into one of our bathrooms so that she can stare at the lights hanging above our mirrors. Frequently, that does the trick. She will stop wailing just so she can gaze into their bright glow for minutes on end. For this reason, Eunita and I were convinced that Danalyn would love Christmas lights. Thus, as soon as it got dark the other evening, we bundled ourselves up in warm clothing to go for a walk around our neighborhood so as to appreciate the multi-colored Christmas displays of our neighbors’ homes.
To help Danalyn see the lights, I carried her so that she faced forward. We were confident that our outing would be a success, but as we approached the first home with Christmas tree lights and then the next, something strange happened. Danalyn was indeed mesmerized, but it was not by the Christmas lights hanging in front of the homes. It was by the street lamps and the trees surrounding them.
As adults, we have a different vision of the world, but perhaps there is something to be learned from this. This Christmas season we should stop and appreciate the unique offerings of the season, but we should also stop and appreciate the ordinary world around us with new eyes, if not the eyes of a newborn. With new eyes, Christmas becomes more than a passing moment of warmth and delight. It becomes a time of rebirth, a time to encounter the rest of our lives with a fresh and vibrant vision of the divine.
Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Brooks