In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it. (John1:1-5, NRSV)
I have a confession to make. I put up my Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. Weeks before Thanksgiving! I’m surprised that my HOA didn’t fine me or that my neighbors didn’t schedule some sort of intervention.
But before you judge, hear me out. I don’t have to tell you that 2020 has been a tough year. Wildfires destroyed 47 million acres of Australia. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit the royal family. Kobe Bryant died. Eddie Van Halen died. Murder hornets found their way to America. The deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor led to demonstrations and riots across our country and racial tensions escalated. Our country seems more divided than ever. Oh, and we are in the ninth month of a pandemic that has rocked the economy, kept many of us from seeing family members and disrupted routines and rituals far and wide. What does all of that have to do with me putting up my decorations so early? Well, I needed a little light to shine into this darkness.
Most of my decorations remind me of Jesus. Christmas trees point toward heaven and remind me to look to God in difficult times. The lights of Christmas remind me that darkness can’t and won’t take over; Jesus is the Light of the world and the darkness of 2020 will not overcome that Light.
So, yeah, I put up my decorations early. I wanted to be reminded that the Light still shines.
I hope that your Christmas decorations bring you some much-needed joy and hope during this season. I hope that they help point to the Divine Light that seeks to penetrate the darkness.
