No Darkness

Two very contrasting memories of the past few days are coming to mind this morning.  The first is the mental image of my adorable almost 8 year old granddaughter Gabby at the Christmas Eve service.  It was the first time I had been in a Christmas Eve service without at least one of my kids since our first child moved in in 1996.  All three of our adult children who live at home had to work and were attending the 11:00 service.  So Gabby and Carlos and I went to the 5:30 service together and Gabby and I dropped Carlos off in the nursery.  Below is a picture taken a couple weeks ago so you can see her bright eyes as you read about the service.

At the end of the service, right before Silent Night, we sang another song.  It was one that Gabby had been singing all month as part of the children's choir.   She held her candle and all the way through the song her bright us, shining in the candlelight, looked up at me and with the innocence and wonder only a child possesses we sang:

I want to walk as a child of the light.
I want to follow Jesus.
God set the stars to give light to the world
The star of my life is Jesus. 

In Him there is no darkness at all
the night and the day are both alike
The Lamb is the light in the city of God
Shine in my heart Lord, Jesus.

It is a memory I will never forget and tears formed in my eyes as I prayed that God would answer her prayer and that Jesus would shine brightly in her heart forever.

I contrast that memory with a book that I read yesterday called "The Execution of God."  I'm still not sure what I think about the book.  While I agree with many of the points made its unique style and unorthodox presentation of ideas was a bit jarring.   The concept of the book was that every time a person is killed because of a crime, God is being killed as well.

The book gave a glimpse of what life is like on death row.  It seemed so incredibly dark.   Over and over as I was reading the book the words to the song above came to my mind, "In Him there is no darkness at all."     I had to ask myself, "Where is God in all of this?"

It all came together for me as I thought about the song.   In Him there is no darkness.... and we, His people, are the ones who are shining His light.   If we fail to let Him shine in our hearts, if we fail to go to places of darkness, then the darkness wins.

What darkness is winning in your world today?  Are there people you know who are living in the darkness of poverty, of mental illness, of addiction?  

As we spend time this week planning for the year to come, let's ask ourselves where there are corners of darkness that need the light that is shining in us.  

Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.

I don't know this church or this choir, but the song is the point :-)