Light of the World

On a recent Monday afternoon, I parked along the power canal in Turner’s Falls, pulled out my lunch and started waiting. A thorough scan of the geese resting on the water made it clear that the bird I was looking for was not present. Amongst the Canada Geese, the small, white Ross’ Goose would have stood out like a sore thumb. So I enjoyed my lunch, listened to Car Talk on the radio, talked with my brother on the phone, talked with other birders who showed up for the same reason and well, mostly just waited…and waited…and waited.

Waiting is the most common activity of birders. The problem with waiting is the pressure to do something else. Sometimes it is the pressure to abandon the stake out in order to look elsewhere. Other times it is the pressure to do other things, like laundry or like getting supper. Sometimes it is the pressure just to admit defeat and go home. This last is the one against which we always fight the most. But when the rest of the area geese finally started to fly in to join the original group the sun had already begun to set. Each small group of geese coming in for a noisy landing of flapping wings and squawking honks brought with it a ray of hope even as the rays of the sun slipped away

Then in what turned out to be the final group of geese there was a smaller white bird. It was now full fledged twilight but the white of this goose was still quite visible. Surely this was the bird—but how were we to see it well enough to be sure? At this point I was glad that I had driven the minivan instead of the sedan. I turned the van so that the headlights, just barely higher than the guardrail, shone on the water where the goose was.

This is the time of year when we watch the light slip away as days grow shorter. Thus it is not by chance that we celebrate Christmas during this season. Humanity is lost in the dark without God, so we look for the coming of the light. Sometimes we feel the pressure to stop waiting, to stop looking. The darkness falls around us and we think there is nothing more that we can do. But if Christ is indeed the light of the world then shouldn’t we keep waiting…and waiting…and waiting?

And then when the gift of God comes in the dark of night don’t you want to be there to see it? And here is part of the great mystery of each Christmas since the first one. Since Jesus has already been born we are not waiting for that child. In fact, we believe that this baby is now the risen Christ…whose new birthing place is not a manger, but our hearts. So, in a way, all this waiting is just to see if we will understand that the light of the world can and should now shine from each of us. Will you help those in need around you by letting your light shine? There is no greater gift you can give this Christmas.