Scripture: Isaiah said, “O people of Jacob,
come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” Isaiah 2:5, NEB
Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,
Blossomed the lovely stars,
the forget-me-nots of the angels.
(Evangeline; Longfellow.)
We are by nature
creatures of light. Total darkness leaves us disoriented. Sighted persons
crave light, and avoid darkness whenever possible. Even the shorter
periods of daylight during fall and winter months leave many of us
SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder.) SAD makes us sad; “affected
with or expressive of grief or unhappiness, DOWNCAST”, according to my
dictionary.
Lack of light is not the only thing that may make us
sad, however. Life is full of frustrations, pain, sorrows, and unfulfilled
ambitions. We desire none of those things, of course. Our hope is to be bright
and cheery, not gloomy, dreary, or dull.
We counsel the downcast that ‘into each life some rain
must fall,’ that ‘the night is darkest before the dawn,’ to ‘look for the
LIGHT at the end of the tunnel.’ Easy to say, until it’s your umbrella
that leaks, your candle that goes out, or your tunnel that ends
in a blank wall.
Climbing out of the pit of despair is not easy, but
it can be done. The Book of Psalms bears evidence of this. If all you ever
do is add grief to sorrow to despair (all minuses), what do you get? An endless
circle of misery! Negatives!
What did the psalmists do? They added a BIG plus into
the equation - they added God! They added light; they moved from downcast
to upcast.
Psalmists of old proclaimed the handiwork of God, as
evidenced in the stars of heaven. And, yes, the stars are brightest when the
night is the darkest.
Think about the observance of the Advent
season. When times were indeed dark for humanity, God sent a great light into
the world. John 1:5 affirms that the light shines on in the
dark, and the darkness has never mastered it. The very stars of heaven announced
His coming. The heavens were filled with light, and the splendor of the Lord
shone round about the shepherds. (Luke 2:9)
We become what we dwell upon in our thoughts, words,
and deeds.
In cooking, they immerse meat in a flavoring
sauce, called a merinade. Well, you can marinade your life with nastiness
and sorrow, or you can look to light, joy, and the many blessings God gives
us.
Immerse yourself in looking
for God’s gifts; shove the darkness behind the Son of God. Pick some forget-me-nots
of the angels.
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Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,