What does Christmas mean to you?
(And here I must confess that by “Christmas” I mean “the
greater Yuletide season, marked by Christmas, Hanukah, Diwali, or just a
secular celebration of the winter solstice”.)
To me, the meaning of Christmas is, and always has been,
hope. This is reflected in the
imagery of the original stories, and the similarities of that imagery in the
religious observances of other cultures is a bold reminder of how connected we
really are to each other.
The strongest metaphor for the hope of the season is
light. A light shining in the darkness
is symbolic of hope standing strong against despair, of standing fast against
all odds. Light plays an important role
in all of the stories associated with Christmas.
Remember, if you will, the story of the wise men from the East,
who, as told in Matthew’s gospel, followed a star in search of a long-promised
king. The light from the star was their
hope that the king had finally come.
Further, in Luke’s gospel, we have the light of the angels
who announced the birth of the Messiah to a band of lowly shepherds. Again, light signifying the long-awaited hope
of deliverance.
Even in John’s gospel, which has no formal Christmas story,
there is an account, of sorts, of the beginnings of things. And it includes this passage: “In him was
life, and the life was the light of mankind. And
the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not
mastered it.” (John 1:4-5)
What a thrilling concept!
The light shines on, against the darkness! The darkness is helpless before the light!
That light is hope.
Hope for the future. Hope for a
struggling relationship. Hope for the
truth. Hope for much-needed help during desperate times.
“Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!
The splendor of the Lord shines on you!
and deep darkness covers the nations,
but the Lord shines on you;
his splendor appears over you.” (Isaiah 60:1-2)
Again, this powerful, recurring symbol of light against the darkness,
of long-awaited hope. This, in a
nutshell, is what Christmas is all about for me.
And let’s not forget our Jewish brethren. At this time of year, they celebrate Hannukah,
the Festival of Lights. They do so in
remembrance of a miracle during the cleansing of the Temple. There was only enough oil to keep the Temple
Menorah burning for a single day, but it burned for 8 days. This symbolized hope renewed, and they
celebrate it with the festival of lights to this day.
The Hindus also have a festival of lights, Diwali, in which
they celebrate the triumph of good over evil.
Light against the darkness is a strong motif, celebrated in
culture after culture. In our case, the
birth of Jesus symbolized the triumph of hope over despair. That hope rings anew every year, as the
darkness grows ever longer with the onset of winter. And we are reminded again that the light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness STILL has not mastered it.
Maybe your hope is for a broken relationship to be restored. Maybe it is for a new job. Maybe it is for the health of a loved
one. Maybe your hope is a simple one, or
perhaps it is a desperate one. Maybe it
is hope for all of mankind. As Stephen
King wrote in his masterful novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, “Hope
is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
I don’t know your background, and I don’t know what your
hope is this Christmas season. But I
hope your darkness is held back by the light, and I hope that the light you
seek shines on you.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
Jeremy Hefner
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