Let there be light!

"And now," our guide told us.  "I'm going to shut off the lights."

I've never really figured out why guides on tours of caverns like to shut off the lights.  It is actually a lot harder to see the Stalactites and Stalagmites and frankly anything about the cave with the lights out, but at this point, Jill did exactly what she said she was going to do. 

"This," she said dramatically.  "Is total darkness!  We are deep in the earth and there is no light except what comes from the electric lights.  Does anyone know what would happen if you spent thirty days in total darkness?"

No one hazarded a guess.  I thought about mentioning that you would come out all pasty white, but I didn't think that was what she was looking for.

"You would go blind!"  Jill said.

"Oh," everyone gasped.  Apparently she had heard that without light the part of your brain that controls your vision would just turn off, never to be turned on again.  A high price to pay for living in a cave and not paying your electric bill.

This didn't seem right to me and so later on I did a little research.  I found out that this simply isn't true.  People don't go blind just from being in the dark, even total darkness.

What is true is that if you spend a long time in total darkness your eyes will get really sensitive to the light.  When you leave a cave after being in the dark for a very long time the light will really hurt your eyes.

I think about the time when Jesus came to earth.  Truly, it was a time of deep darkness -- one could almost say total darkness.  Into that darkness came the Light of Life.

The sad thing is that men and women in Jesus day did not love the light.

"And this is the judgment:  the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil."

Nothing has changed today.  People do not love the light.  It hurts their eyes.  It exposes their dirtiness and the areas where they don't measure up.  They would rather stay in the cave in the dark.

At the same time, we need the light.  We were made for light.  We need it for Vitamin D.  We need it to see and regain our focus.

That is why, God wants to reach down into the life of each one struggling with darkness and say one simple phrase, "Let there be Light!"

The Language of Elliot

"Gurrrtl Mummit," Elliot said, making some very odd guttural sounds in his throat as he did so.  "Does anyone know what that means?"

"It means you have something stuck in your throat?"  I hazarded.

"No, Dad," Elliot said.  "It means 'Hooray Christmas!' in Elliot language."

"Oh," I said.  It is a bit strange to live in a household where there is a special language that is spoken and happens to be the only place in the world where that tongue is spoken.  Maybe Elliot can marry a Wycliffe Bible translator some day who can learn to speak it as well.  I have a feeling that by that time he will have moved on to something else.

At the same time, I don't know of the benefit of a language spoken by only one person.  To me, the whole point of language is for communication.  Compared to languages like English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese, Elliot, the language, is tiny and fairly useless, except to aggravate siblings.

Fortunately, Elliot speaks English too.  His parents and other random people can speak to him in something other than Elliot-talk.  This is awfully handy, as there are probably fifteen other languages I would probably rather learn to speak than Elliot.

As I think about it, every person on this planet is important to Jesus and every one of them needs to know the blessing of His life and sacrifice.  This is true if they speak English, or a dialect spoken only by 862 members of a tribe in the Amazonian rain forest.

Languages are for communication and there is nothing more important than sharing the message of God's love with others.

Even in the weird guttural language of my seven year old son.

Christmas Music

It is the time of year when stores across this great land of ours break out CDs of Christmas Music.  Or maybe, being the 21st century, they have something connected to a Pandora or Apple Christmas Channel.  Regardless, you have but to walk into a shopping mall or store of just about any kind to hear a type of music that you don't commonly hear in July.

(That's probably for the best).

As weird as it is, I actually like a lot of Christmas music.  I just don't like the type that is played in shopping malls this time of year.

So many of the songs played at this time of year are experiential.  They talk about things that the song writer feels at this time of year.  Building snowmen, riding in sleighs, and eating "Christmas foods" (like chestnuts) are all common themes.  Some song writers delve into the things they are missing -- family, snow, or just simply "a man friend."  All of those themes feel more than a little shallow to me.

It probably is clear that I like older Christmas songs.  I like Christmas songs that speak of Christ's birth  and what that means.

The Messiah is even dusted off this time of year and performances are given in a variety of venues.  For anyone who doesn't know, The Messiah is an oratorio composed by George Frederic Handel in 1741 with the libretto being passages from the Bible that speak of Jesus and His work.  The first part deals with prophecies of His birth as well as the birth itself, while the second and third parts speak of his death and second coming.  It always seems as though those second and third parts get short changed in the shortened versions that are performed this time of year.

(Just so long as they get the Hallelujah Chorus in).

Christmas songs are emblematic of our societal problems.  Whether it is cutting Jesus out of the season entirely or, just keeping Him an infant and ignoring His death and suffering, our culture wants to marginalize the Savior of the World.

Who can be surprised at the darkness we see around us, when we have hidden the Light of the World?

I pray that this year we would hear the whole of the Messiah.  Not that we listen to the three hour oratorio, but that we read the Bible and try to understand who this Jesus really is. 

Knowing Him makes all the difference between living a shallow existence and living with purpose.

Clear Vision

The lady siting across from sighed a little.  "I hope this is that last surgery," she said.

"I would think so," I said.

"The eye doctor's don't really give me hope of regaining vision in my eye," she said.  "After all of these surgeries, they just are trying to save the eye itself."

"That has to be hard," I said.

"You know," she said.  "I did get a little tearful when they told me that.  But last time I was here, you prayed with me and I have a lot of other people praying too and my God is big enough to heal my eye -- or to take care of me if it isn't healed too."

I was silent and she continued.  "I was reading about Fannie Crosby and how she lost her vision at a really young age and went on to write songs like "Blessed Assurance."  I thought to myself that she was able to bless people even though she was blind.  I need to think about how I can bless people around me and not focus on how well my eyes see, or don't see."

I was challenged by this little encounter.

The question really isn't whether God is big enough to take care of the things I face.  Of course He is.  The question is really about focus.

The days in which I focus on the things I lack are filled with discouragement.  The days I don't focus so much on myself, but rather look for ways that I can help others and "be Jesus" to them are filled with blessing.

I want to walk each day with this knowledge firmly in my mind. 

This lady, with only one good eye, had far clearer vision than most of us with a working pair.  Truly, she blessed me that day.