It is the beginning of January, a new year has started, and the world has moved on from Christmas.  All up and down my streets are trees awaiting tomorrow’s trash collection and the lights are going off.  A few of us still have our decorations up (after all the Epiphany isn’t until January 6^th), but pretty much it is all over.  SIGH.

For me this is one of the most depressing times of the year.  We’ve been inundated with Christmas carols since the beginning of November, but they disappeared from the radio on the 26^th of December.  We had brightly lit neighborhoods, but now it is dark.  Television was filled with commercials and now…well they are still trying to sell us stuff.  Let’s not go there!  Let’s go back to the dark.

It was so nice.  All the neighborhood decked out in bright lights. Some homes had white, others multi-colors, but the theme was there.  Light.  And now it is dark.

And yet that is the point.  The darkness has been around for a long time.  But one day, so long ago, something changed.  The light entered into the world.   And “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”  Ever.

So the Christmas lights may be turned off for another year, but the true light is still here.  We are the light of the world, and if the darkness did not overcome the light, we should be shining bright.

And so, in this time of “after Christmas”, the time when the decorations are taken down and put away, the time when the natural light is still dim and the Christmas lights are put back into the basement we need to shine extra bright.  We need to show the world the light, bringing a true meaning to the celebration of Christmas.

Brothers and sisters, shine bright.  Show the world all the light you possess.  Remind us all once again the real celebration – the Light of the World.

Peace,

Bill