Darkness makes the soul weary. And darkness comes in many forms. Consider a single mom, unable to sleep, watching the clock as it clicks from 2:13 to 2:14 in the morning. What about the child who feels force of the dynamite blast; raising up clouds of dust that block out the sun? Think of a traveler in the darkness of a deep and old forest where the trees are tall and the path below seldom sees the sun. Imagine a father preparing for work in the extended darkness nearer to the northern and southern poles of our globe; leaving in the darkness of morning and returning in the darkness of night.
On December 13, many people around the world will celebrate Saint Lucy's Day. It was meant to be celebrated on the Winter Solstice (now recognized as December 21) because it is the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (The similar night in the Southern Hemisphere is in June.).
While Saint Lucy's Day has mixed with local traditions and myths around the world (especially in Scandinavia), the saint herself lived Sicily, part of what is now Italy. Her name, Lucia, means light. She is recognized by the Church as a martyr for refusing to marry and giving her dowry to the poor. Because she was betrothed at the time, the future husband started a chain of events that led to her martyrdom. One of the stories about St. Lucy is her provision for the Christians in the catacombs. It is said that to keep her hands free to carry the supplies for those in need, she put a wreath on her head with candles in it to light the way.
The longest night of the year is brightened with the remembrance of an ancient light: an act of great love and charity. Today that effort to bring hope to the dark places where the Christians were hiding from their persecutors is celebrated with candle ceremonies, planting wheat seeds and making saffron buns.
But imagery of the light piercing the darkness goes back before 304 AD when we think Lucia was martyred. The Nativity account tells of the night when Jesus was born. Angels appeared to the shepherds in spectacular fashion. That left them scrambling to find the new baby that had been announced. Mary and Joseph welcomed a new day with a baby boy in their arms and the worshiping shepherds in the streets of Bethlehem proclaiming what they had seen to anyone who would listen.
This amazing night was not without its heaviness. The weariness I mentioned at the beginning was present on the night of Christmas Eve. The shepherds, the first Century's 3rd shift workers, took turns watching the sheep and sleeping in the fields. Talk about a difficult life! Mary and Joseph spent the night dealing with the pains of birth. The agony, unknown, and discomfort would make anyone weary. No Christmas song captures that sense of weariness as well as "O Holy Night." The song begins:
"O holy night! The stars are brightly shinning,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn."
What is so refreshing about this song is that the weariness of night is countered by the light. It is a metaphor for the fallen world we live in and the redemption we experience when we recognize Jesus as our Savior. The weariness of the night is pushed away in the presence of the brilliance of Jesus' love.
Jesus' love is indeed light in a dark world. It represents the "thrill of hope." However, it isn't an instant fix for the darkness that still envelopes the world. When Jesus was presented to the shepherds, the Caesar was still on the throne of the Roman empire. Famines, wars, disease and power struggles did not slow. The light appeared as a ray of hope; evidence of a new Kingdom coming but not yet here.
The same was true as Lucia descended into the catacombs with her head glowing in the light and her arms full of help. She represented that ray of hope, but the world just a few hundred feet above was still trying to exterminate the followers of Jesus. She spread that light out of a knowledge that the darkness today was no indicator of tomorrow.
The reality is that the light that Jesus brings brightens our souls as we are brought into this new Kingdom and our perspective changes entirely. That is how Lucia could act the way she did. That is why the disciples followed Jesus. While the world around them was full of fear and darkness, their lives were transformed by light and hope.
The same is available to us today. Many of us are weary as we approach the end of the year. We are tired of senseless striving, the ravages of war, the pain of injustice, and the hurt that comes with physical and emotional wounds. In the face of all these things, weariness is expected . . . unless you know Jesus.
For those of us who have been pierced by those rays of hope that Jesus unleashed on that Christmas night, weariness is not our fate. Instead, we can live victoriously as followers of a King who is bringing in a Kingdom of Light and Love. The weary world that everyone else sees is there but awash in light.
If you are weary today, consider your soul's focus. Are you trapped by the darkness or following the light?
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