A need for more lights

• Light up people’s lives

 Sometimes we might look at events going on in the world, or in our own lives and see darkness. It may even seem like the darkness is bound to get worse in the days ahead.

Even though this feels like a modern problem, it isn’t. Darkness has always been a problem in this world, and light has always been the answer.

Centuries ago, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, “Now it is high time to awake out of sleep. … The night is far spent,” he went on to say. “The day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the ar­mour of light” (Romans 13:11–12).

That sounds like perfect coun­sel for our day. Distress about the present too often leads to a kind of sleepy apathy about the future. What we need is a wake-up call to open our eyes to the goodness around us. Then we can put on the light like a suit of armor, preparing us to push through darkness with hope for better days ahead.

The truth is, light shines more brilliantly, more hopefully, against the backdrop of dark times. For ex­ample, this global pandemic, with all of its sadness and heartache, has allowed humanity’s greatness to stand out in inspiring ways. Scientists have worked around the clock to deliver vaccines in record time. Health care professionals, teachers, and so many others have selflessly served their communi­ties. Neighbors have helped each other as never before.

Many families have noticed that they are closer today than when the pandemic started. They cher­ish relationships more, they value memories shared with loved ones, and they look for ways to extend love and caring to others. While they’ve done more physical dis­tancing, in some ways they’ve been more emotionally connected.

Maybe it’s time, as the ancient prophet Isaiah said, “awake, awake, and put on strength” (Isaiah 51:9). We will certainly need strength in the future as we have in the past, the strength that comes from looking for the good and holding on to faith, from treat­ing people with compassion and re­spect, from putting on “the armour of light.” protected by such light, we can know that even when all is dark around us, all is well with our soul.

The most significant and beauti ­ful moments in life so often come just after periods of darkness and sorrow. The birth of a new child is always preceded by a mother’s pain and travail. The joyful colors of spring are most inspiring be­cause they come on the heels of a dreary winter. And glorious sunris­es would be meaningless if they didn’t follow the darkness of night.

Perhaps there’s a message for us in such patterns: Nothing is ever hopeless. When things seem the bleakest, when all seems dark and despairing, it may be that a great light of hope is just about to shine forth. After all, such new light cannot come if life is always sunny.

In many ways, the story of Han­del’s Messiah exemplifies the light of hope. While the music and lyrics abound with hopeful messages, Messiah was written during a dark and dismal time in Handel’s life. He was in debt and out of favor as a composer; public taste for his work was dwindling, and he struggled with crippling self-doubt as a result.

But then a friend, Charles Jen­nens, gave him a text he had prepared, with hopes that Handel would set it to music. Taken from scripture, it included lines like these:

“Lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid.”

“Arise, shine, for thy light is come.”

And “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”

The result was one of the most popular and enduring pieces of music ever created. Combining his talent with hard work and divine inspiration, Handel composed his masterwork in just 23 days. Heav­en clearly smiled upon his effort, and the person and the moment came together in a powerful way.

 The work itself and its miraculous creation remind us that the “great light” of hope shines for all, but in particular for those who “walked in darkness” (Isaiah 9:2). Even when everything seems bleak and hopeless, new life will come; light will always chase away darkness. That is the abiding truth and mes­sage of the Messiah.

By Samuel Enos Eghan

Email: samueleghan@gmail.com