Friday, December 23, 2016

Christmas ...Walking with Squinty Eyes

The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
    light! sunbursts of light!  Isaiah 9:2 (the Message) 




This morning, I walked into our coffee shop with the lights out. It was pitch black outside at 5:00am and the staff had done a great job of turning off all the lights. A couple of thoughts came to mind as we engage Christmas in two days:

  • Have you ever walked into a dark room, or maybe have been outside at night, and your eyes adjust to a point where you can see pretty good in the dark? You can't quite see everything, or see really well, but you can make out enough to walk around without hurting yourself....most of the time. If there's something on the floor in the "deep shadows", we can find ourselves tripping and maybe even falling. It may just result in an injury that takes time to heal. Such is walking in the darkness of life. We can certainly choose to walk in darkness, and our eyes (hearts) might even adjust to a point where we seem to be walking pretty well. Every once in a while, we may miss something in the deep shadows and it may result in a fall or even an injury. Turning on the lights allows us to see things more clearly.
  • After being in the dark for awhile, it hurts our eyes to turn on the lights, doesn't it? You know...that squinty thing we do with our eyes when hit with sunbursts of light after being in the dark for awhile. Scientists call this "Adaptation." What's interesting is that it takes longer to adjust to darkness than to light. Going from dark to light though, causes a shock because our eyes are straining to see things in the darkness. So the open cornea of our eye takes in to much light when a bright light invades the darkness we've adjusted to. If we truly see this great light that has come in Jesus, it may actually hurt at first, especially if we've been living in darkness. It may feel like "LIGHT!, SUNBURSTS OF LIGHT!" as Peterson descriptively puts it. The good thing though, is that after awhile...adaptation...we will walk with a view that is clearer and safer from the falls and injuries in life.

My own prayer and desire, this season and this coming year, is to walk into the light and let adaptation fully take hold of my heart and mind. May you also find the light of Christmas. It's not under the tree, or in any wrapped box, nor even in the presence of family. It is found by looking up and seeing the what the angel announced as the star appeared:

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."  Luke 2:11 (ESV)

To walk in light requires that we see Jesus not just as a holiday, but as Savior, Christ, and Lord of our life. Merry Christmas, may we all walk with squinty eyes.