2nd Thursday of Advent

2nd week in Advent -- Thursday                            John 1:1-5

                            The Light of the World

I once went “spelunking.”  Don’t worry about rushing to your dictionaries.  I’ll tell you what it means.  It means “cave exploring.”  This was not a guided tour of Meramac Caverns or Mammoth Cave.  My venture in spelunking was in a real cave -- to which you hiked, where you got down on all fours to crawl inside, where you tied a rope at the cave’s mouth so you could find your way out again.

By best estimates, we meandered about three-quarters of a mile back inside the cave.  We were about out of rope, so we sat down.  Then, just to see what it was like, we turned off our flashlights.  The presence of the darkness was overpowering.  You could almost feel its cloak.

After what seemed like an hour (but was only probably 30 seconds!), flashlights popped back on.  We all -- collectively, instinctively -- took a deep, cleansing breath.  LIGHT!  We could see where we were.  We could feel safe and secure.  We could find our way out.

Jesus is the Light of our world.  And as St. John put it so well: “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”  Thanks be to God!

God:

We see it all around us . . . hatred instead of love, hurt instead of healing, doubt instead of faith and trust, despair instead of hope, darkness instead of light.  Help us to be instruments of your Son, our Lord, in shining a ray of light into the lives of those around us; in His name we pray.  Amen.