The tension between darkness and light – January 18
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 119:1-24; PM Psalm 12, 13, 14; Isa. 41:1-16; Eph. 2:1-10; Mark 1:29-45
“The season of Epiphany is when we celebrate the revealing of Christ to the world. We mark the arrival of the One who is the light of the world: a light that brings life, a light that brings hope. This light shines its brightest when we are in community – with God and with one another.” - The Episcopal Church
I have been playing with the tension between darkness and light in my mind of late. As I ponder, I know on multiple levels that we need one to welcome the other. For plants, people, and pets alike, darkness brings a slowing down. A time of rest and respiration. An ending. Darkness can also bring a time of peril and uncertainty. Light heralds an awakening. Warmth and growth and movement. Light can blind us or wear us out, pushing us to close our eyes.
When I was in school, a friend was struggling. He spoke of how dark the hopelessness within him was. I went to the Gospel of John: “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (1:4-5) I wrote these words down and passed them to my friend. He knew them already.
In the daily office readings appointed for today, the play between darkness and light is woven into the messages for us. In Isaiah 45, we read the words from God spoken to Cyrus the king of Persia, who is to help the Israelites escape from exile:
“I am the Lord, and there is no other;
besides me there is no god.
I arm you, though you do not know me,
so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness,
I make weal and create woe;
I the Lord do all these things.”
The apostle Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, sharing wisdom of how to live in faithfulness to God and in Christian community. He advises, “For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true….Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’”
In the Gospel according to Mark today, Jesus is teaching a parable to the crowd – the one about the sower who sows seeds on all kinds of terrain. Then, he takes his disciples aside later and shines light on the figurative language of the story, so that they may fully understand the messages he is conveying about faithful living – and the pitfalls that can come.
We are in the season following the Epiphany, when the light of Christ is revealed. Christ shines the light of hope, understanding, and comfort into the darkest spaces of our lives. It is that light that draws others in, to ask questions and find healing. May the Epiphany light shine brightly within you, upon you, and before you this day, so that in this warmth, others may know the love and glory of God.
Katherine+
Questions for Self-Reflection:
Who are the people around you who shine the light of Christ? How do you show this brightness? Who are the community around you who support and encourage this light?
Daily Challenge:
Prepare for this Sunday’s worship by immersing yourself in a study of the scripture. Try doing a method of Bible study called lectio divina: click this link to access the steps of this reflective method of reading the gospel. You may watch a recorded conversation of other Episcopalians going through the steps of lectio, too.