It was not difficult to find beauty today; the challenge was finding the time to step back and appreciate it. Our church out here held its annual carol service tonight and we really enjoyed it. Before the final song everyone's candle was lit and we filed out of the church to stand in the courtyard to sing "Silent Night".
One of the readings from the service was (naturally) 1 John, and I am always captivated by the imagery: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." (Sometimes that is rendered "understand", rather than "overcome", depending on your translation.) Standing out in the night, holding our candles, that verse seemed so very true. At Christmas we hold out our lights, lit from a flame that has been passed on from generation to generation since the events of John 1.
This light has never been extinguished, never been overcome. Sometimes it is a lone candle in a sea of darkness and sometimes there are countless little flames joined together to fill the sky. Tonight we were able to join with a couple hundred fellow believers from all over the world to hold our candles together in the night. It was humbling, moving and above all, beautiful.
Evan
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