These are the dark days of December. They are dark for a variety of reasons. For those suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), these shortest days of the year often lead to emotional darkness as depression sinks in its talons of despair. For others, they are mourning the death of a loved one (and that is a reality at SCS) or are dealing with the shock of a medical diagnosis or a worsening medical condition. As we look around society, we can also see the spiritual darkness spreading (read https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-canada-wont-fund-student-summer-jobs-unless-employers-demonstrate). What a trifecta: physical, emotional, and spiritual darkness.
When I think about the encroaching darkness, I am reminded of this quote from The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.
“Far above the Ephel Duath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.” (Tolkien, Return of the King, p. 901)
From here, I like to move to Scripture. Isaiah reminds us that:
The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined (9:2).
We have the light of God’s Word to comfort and encourage us. As we look at Christmas lights, either on houses or on trees (or elsewhere), let the light remind us of the light that we have through Jesus Christ. Let us continue to look ‘unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God’ (Heb. 12:2). And the best way to do that is to continue to turn to Scripture to read and re-read the many promises that God has given us through His Son.
Principal's Ponderings 