Today is the winter solstice. While it is officially the first day of winter, here on Long Island it feels like spring. I'm not complaining, I'll take this over 20 degrees and snow anytime.
The best thing I like about the first day of winter is that the days begin to grow longer. Soon it will not be dark as I wake up in the morning or drive home from work. I am the type of person who likes the light. I don't like going out in the dark, and while cold dark nights are good for getting cozy with a hot cup of tea and a good book or watching a tear jerker chick flick on the TV, I find that too much darkness can become depressing. Psychologists have found that more people do suffer depression when the daylight is short.
I think the same can be said of our spiritual life. The longer we dwell in the "darkness" and allow the prince of darkness into our lives, the worse we tend to feel. And just like the gradual shorting of the days following the summer solstice, the darkness in our lives seems to creep up on us slowly and we only realize it when it starts having a negative affect on our lives.
We have a choice, we can give in to the darkness and wallow in it, or we can light a light and let it brighten our nights and our lives. Christ is that Light when we are in darkness. With His Light we have nothing to fear and all depression and sadness is brought into the Light and transformed into Hope and Love.
May these final days of Advent find you basking in not only the lights of your Christmas tree but in the Light of the Love of Christ.
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