“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” (Isaiah 60:1-3).
We’re here. We’ve arrived. At Bethlehem, and if you’re reading this, you’ve arrived intact and, undoubtedly, with some relief.
Me too.
And of all the greetings I could send your way in the earliest hours of this occasioned day … of all the clever and enchanting ways I could paint this moment with my words, none would suffice to adequately capture the truth of what this pilgrimage has meant and continues to mean to me.
None, except, perhaps this picture.
Our Light has come … has entered into our darkness. Not to shatter us into a pile of irretrievable pieces, but to illuminate us with the single truth…
of Bethlehem’s pause.
of creation’s purpose.
of our reason for being given this season of influence in our lives.
Never will our God shine brighter, loom larger, or beam bigger then when he is given the permission to illuminate his heart and love through the likes of you and me. At least not on this side of eternity.
There is coming a day when our faith will be made sight, and our fleshly attempts at being his light will fall prey and bow down to the weight of his inapproachable light. But until then, we are given the inconceivable privilege of housing his grace and his eternal flicker of hope.
We are the keepers of God’s Light. The tenders of a sacred wick that is meant to flame with the heat of a Father’s holy passion. Our failure to understand the depth of such a holy privilege not only leaves us as we are, but also succeeds in leaving others as they are.
In the dark and without hope. Confused and groping for the way home.
When we fail to reason God’s unreasonable as our assigned portion and to allow his living pulse to become our living breath, we live less. We walk smaller and not as God intended. He intends for us to live within and beneath the shadow of his accompanying presence each day and in full and unsuspecting ways. He means for others to see him through us. Thus, our membership in his household called faith and in his kingdom called Christendom.
We live selfish when we shine God’s Light in isolation. We mock Bethlehem and its mangered pause when we neglect to walk the fulfillment of its illumination … when we turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to the Matthew 5:14’s and 26:18’s of God’s Holy writ.
Nations have been assigned to God’s Light via our vessels. There are those who will walk home to Jesus because our candles have been the faithful radiance to shine the way. When we bow in holy submission to such Light, we pay high and holy honor to our created purpose. When we walk proud and with little regard to such privilege, we damper God’s illumination.
Does he really need us in order to shine big?
Not really, but his grace allows us the consecrated participation. And when it happens, when our exposure allows Christ his, we experience a fullness that exceeds the solitary whispers of a single flame. We land our lives squarely in the middle of a roaring, Holy Spirit, Jesus-breathing, burning bush kind of revelation. Not the kind that burns to ashes, but rather the type that burns to pure.
To perfection and to a knowing that rests easy with the flaming wick and that concedes the heart to the tending therein.
I don’t know about you, but I want to be the luminary that shines forth our Father’s light. I want to be pure, and I want the joy of seeing others see him because of my privileged participation in the matter. The one God who shines brighter, looms larger, and beams bigger because I’ve allowed him a home in my heart.
Today I will watch young and old come to the manger to receive the gift of Christmas. Together, we will unwrap another year’s worth of spending and doing in short order. But when evening comes, when the bows and paper and plates have been cleared away and my head finds its rest, I pray that my loved ones will have unwrapped more than my meager attempts at love. I pray that they will have seen God in our midst, casting his high and holy shadow through the single flame of my willing heart.
If I can show them Jesus this Christmas, then holy intention has walked its course, and my life has served good purpose.
I pray the same for you, my friends. Holy intention and good purpose lived through you with every package opened, with every smile given, with every difficult relative loved, and with every kindness offered. May God’s Light within you be the flame that lights up your home this Christmas with the warmth and the truth of Bethlehem’s sacred pause.
Arise and shine, for your Light has come.
Merry Christmas, precious friends. From my home to yours. It is my joy and privilege to break bread with you in this season of my life.
As always,
“We are the keepers of God’s Light. The tenders of a sacred wick that is meant to flame with the heat of a Father’s holy passion. Our failure to understand the depth of such a holy privilege not only leaves us as we are, but also succeeds in leaving others as they are.”
What a beautiful reminder that my life doesn’t begin and end with me but rather, my choices good or bad, will affect those around me.
Once, again, you have painted a masterpiece with your keyboard! Merry and Blessed Christmas to you and your family!
Denise
What an exquisite post!! I so long to be a light that shines for Him in a dark world yet I fail so often. I love that despite my failures, He never, never fails me. O Praise You, Jesus!!
Merry Christmas!!
Leah
Although I’m physically surrounded by darkness right now as I write this in the early hours of the day and not a light on in my home as my family slumbers still, the sacred glow around and within is blanketing this home and my heart.
Oh Elaine, I don’t want to “live less”. Less has already stolen too much of my past. I want to be fully alive, filled and overflowing with God’s presence.
As the old familiar chorus goes, “It only takes a spark, to get a fire going”. May the Lord fan into flame His presence in me and may it cause other hearts to burn for Him as it did the travellers on the road to Emmaus.
Thank you for giving me here a moment of wonder at Bethlehem’s sacred pause.
Love, hugs and prayers,
Joy
What a beautiful picture, as well as beautiful back-drop.
It’s a timely message, too. For if ever we needed that light, it is today.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Loving those that think they don’t want to be loved, loving those that think they don’t deserve to be loved and even loving those that are down right hard to love.
This Christmas,
Yolanda
Merry, Merry Christmas to you and your family my friend! Joy to the World! The Lord has come!!!!
Sending Christmas joy your way, Peace Elaine!
Again Elaine your writing has touched me in many ways. Merry Christmas to you and your Family!
Pat
I echo Joy’s comment…less has stolen much of my life…and it is my desire to let Him live fully through me…to let His story unfold in my life as The Epic said…this book came at the right time…just what I needed..thank you..and I look forward to a New Year with Hope…what a blessing you have been…
Love that family pic…my camera conked out unfortunately…do take care…
Love, Sita
Merry Christmas, my friend!
Elaine, I read this yesterday and was so moved. You are a kindred spirit who thinks about things very deeply and shares what she finds there. Thank you for all your time and effort to do that-my life is enriched because of it.
Beautiful family picture, Elaine!:)
I hope that all of you have a lovely holiday weekend together!
In Christ,
Amy:)
What a precious photo of you and your family Elaine. Once again, your post is very inspiring to me. I want to allow His light to shine through me to a lost world. The privilege He allows us is amazing! God bless you.
Merry Christmas to you too!
Absolutely beautiful and poignant reminder. Gorgeous, my dear. Praying your Christmas was just as you wished in this post.
I have come here from Ms. Laura’s blog. I have read some of your posts and would like to revisit.
If you like reading short stories from an Indian writer, then a visit to my blogs would be an interesting one for you.
Naval Langa
http://indianshortstories.wordpress.com/
http://cleanfiction.blogspot.com/
Aww, Praise the Lord for the blessing of this post! Love it! The family pic is precious too, ya have a cuteness fam, Mrs. Elaine:)
katiegfromtennessee
Love the dancers! Ah… too bad you didn’t have your Flip yet for those. : )
What a gorgeous family!!!!
Elaine,
You are on my bloglist but I haven’t been here in forever. This is a great family photo. Beautiful. I love the coordinated colors of brown…I bet you had a say in that. 🙂