THE Christmas Light

My wife and I have been commenting and chuckling about it every time we go past. They have to be in a competition. Two blocks away, to exit our plat on a corner we must pass, there are two houses adjacent to each other but on perpendicular, intersecting streets. Each time we pass them, we note that there are more Christmas yard ornaments on display. One yard will have an increase of another ornament or decoration one day, and the neighboring house will the next. Day after day. The assortment is growing and filling their lawns. One will add a snowman, and the neighbor will add a Santa. One yard newly sports a sleigh, and the other will display a nativity. Day after day. More and more ornaments. (I believe a popular author once wrote of such a saga of Christmas-light competition between neighbors.) We only notice the competing growth at night. We notice at night because each displayed ornament comes with lights. That’s the whole thing about Christmas yard ornaments—their lights. When we think of Christmas decorations—inside or out—we think of lights. In fact, when we think of Christmas, we think of lights. Going and see the Christmas lights was a big thing when we were children. This memory surfaces each year. We lived less than a block from Main St.—in those days in its prime--and always noticed when, some days before Thanksgiving, city workers at each intersection of Main were stretching Christmas decorations across Main St. from traffic light pole to traffic light pole. We’d start getting excited. Soon we would get to see the Christmas lights. In our household, anything Christmas was anathema before Thanksgiving. But, Thanksgiving evening, we would load the Christmas music albums in the stereo, listen to Christmas music until dark, and soon after pile into the family car to drive up Main and see the lights. Big deal that was. Later, in the Christmas season would “go see the Christmas lights.” This time we didn’t head for Main St. but for the parts of town where “rich folks lived” and the “fancy houses” were. In parts of town like where we lived, folks didn’t seem to have the extra funds for any type of significant view-worthy Christmas light displays on house and lawn. So, off we would go to see rich folk’s Christmas lights. Whether intentional or not, I think it is fitting that Christmas decorations are thought of as “Christmas lights.” It seems almost universally true. I noted this year as I plugged in our Christmas decorations into smart plugs which can be controlled via Wi-Fi, internet, and voice, that as I chose an icon for the plugs, the one provided was a string of Christmas lights. That string of lights was emblematic for all electrical Christmas decorations one might plugin. Yes, Christmas is all about lights. Literally. Christmas is the celebration of the Savior’s entrance into our world. Our world was dark. Pitch black, dark. Jesus came as light. As the prophet put it, “the people that sat in darkness saw great light.” Jesus is the original Christmas light. Not a decoration. Not a symbol. Not an analogy. The real deal. The real light. Shining into darkness more oppressive than earth’s night. And that’s the thing about Christmas lights. They’re really only seen at night. As mentioned above, my wife and I only notice our competing neighbors’ growth of decorations at night. That’s also why I set a schedule on my smart plugs for our Christmas lights to come on at night and go off at day. Lights are made for the dark. Jesus was “made” for our dark. He became human to become the darkness-piercing Light. In the words of John when Christ came, “the light shined in darkness.” This is not true just about the universal, wholesale darkness of conglomerate humanity. This is true individually. Once a lady of our community called me when I was in my study at church. She was so depressed and distressed that the phone seemed to become heavier and heavier as she poured out her despair. I could feel the darkness that was on her side of the line. At some point, I said, “Listen, let’s pray right now.” I fell to my knees at my chair and began praying as she wept, trying to pray with me. At some point, I found myself repeating over and over, “Jesus, let Your light shine into her darkness.” Over and over. I don’t know how long we prayed, but all of a sudden she began to shout, “It’s gone. It’s gone. The “darkness” is gone.” The Light shines in darkness and the darkness cannot stop it, repel it, prevent it. No darkness has ever overpowered even the smallest light and, for sure, not the Light of the World. I don’t know who will win our neighborhood light competition. But I do know who has won over all darkness. What a Light He is! The Ultimate Christmas Light. Between The Light and darkness, it's no competition at all.