Living In The Shadows

19 Dec

O come, Thou Day-Spring Come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here.
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night and death’s dark shadows put to flight.

There is one thing that I know for certain: I would never survive in Alaska. I am not a “six months of dark” kind of person. I have been on cruises to Alaska and the eeriness of the twilight always astounded me. For many months, the Alaskan is submitted to almost perpetual light. Most people have placed blackout curtains in their homes so that they could sleep in the dark. Then, for many months, there is a darkness that settles over the land and the best they could hope for is a few hours of light. Many purchase artificial sunlight appliances to give them some semblance of normalcy in their homes.

We shun the dark. We associate bad things happening in the dark. We talk about living in the darkness of sin and death. That is why the image of light is so important to the Christian. We call Jesus the Light of the World because He is the one who disperses the gloomy clouds of death’s dark shadows.

We could talk about all that dark that is in the world; however, we also need to concentrate upon the darkness that we allow to dwell within. Whenever we sin, we allow a bit more dark into our souls. If our sins become too many and our repentance too little, we jeopardize our souls.

As we ask for the Dayspring to cast its light into our souls, we need to identify the things that hinder our relationship with God and ask forgiveness for our sins. Make haste to do so. Do not live in the shadows of sin and death. Repent and make straight the way for the Lord. Christmas will be here before you know it.

FAITH ACTION: This is the last Saturday before Christmas. If you have not already gone to confession, consider going today in order to properly prepare your soul.