With You is the fountain of Life, and in Your Light we shall see Light.
For with Thee is the fountain of life; in Thy light do we see light.
Psalm 36:9
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Hopefully we are still aglow with the joy of Christmas. In the Orthodox Church, we celebrate the Nativity for twelve days, culminating in the Feast of Theophany. In our church and in our home, we keep our lights up for the duration of this festal period. At some point, the lights will come down. However, the “light” of Christ never sleeps. It is never taken down. The Orthodox Church has periods of feasting and fasting, periods of somber preparation followed by periods of joyful celebration but the common thread through all the seasons is the light of Christ.
A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a Christmas program at a local high school in which a couple of teens from my parish were performing. In between scenes, the stage was dark, you could see the participants scurrying to get into formation, and on some unseen cue from the director, the spotlight then came on the performers. When each scene was over, the lights went off, and the performers moved and changed their formation for the next scene or song and the spotlight came back on. This happened many times throughout the evening.
The light of Christ is like a spotlight that shines in and on our lives. However, it is not supposed to work like the spotlight at the Christmas show. There are no periods where it is supposed to go off. There are no periods where we should be scurrying around in darkness. In the Christian life, the “show” begins with the spotlight on the stage already being on. It is our goal to walk into the light, and for all the scenes to take place in the light. When there is a scene change, either because we’ve achieved something, or are making a big change in life, or even because we’ve failed at something, there isn’t a moment when the light will go off. The achievements, the changes, and even the failures should take place in the light of Christ.
Sometimes we feel like we are in darkness. And that’s not because the light was shut off. It’s because we’ve stepped out of the light and into the darkness. Again, putting ourselves into the music program on the stage, there will never be a moment that Christ’s light goes off, that it won’t be shining on the stage. At moments in life, we will recede away from the light and go into the shadows. In these moments, it is important to remember that we can step back into the light at any moment.
It is also important to recognize that even though we might be able to function in the dark, we are not functioning optimally when we are not in the light. The performers in the play move around very carefully and slowly when the light is not on them. They move, but they don’t move as well as they could. And they are more likely to stumble in the darkness than they are in the light. It’s the same with us. Can we function without Christ? Sure. When we sin, we step out of the light and we function. But we don’t function well, or optimally, in any sense of the word.
In the Light of Christ, this is where we operate with the greatest sense of “light,” meaning this is where we are best able to see and to function and this is where we are able to feel “light” as opposed to being weighed down by the burden of sin.
One more comment on today’s line of the Doxology and that has to do with fountains. There are certain bodies of water that change. The ocean as an example, has a high tide and a low tide. Where the water comes ashore changes with the time of day. Rivers run higher or lower based on rainfall upstream, so at certain seasons of the year they are higher than others. Thus, oceans and rivers feel more “alive” at certain times than at others. A fountain stays at the same water level all the time. Yet, because the water circulates, it is always “alive.” The Lord is more like a fountain, than a river or an ocean. Because the Lord is the same in strength, in grace, in forgiveness, in love and in so many other things at all times. There are no cycles where He is more alive than others. This is why He is referred to in the Doxology as a fountain of life, a source of strength that never ceases.
Lord, thank You for being a light that can shine any darkness, and in any dark moment. Help me to see Your light at all times, and to keep myself in it. In the times when I have moved away from You, show me the path back. Thank You also for being a fountain of strength, grace and comfort. Help me to recognize in every circumstance of my life, that it is You who is the fountain of life, and in Your light is where I will a path to light up the road I should be on in my life. Amen.
The spotlight that is the light of the Lord never moves. When it feels like His light is not on us, it is because we have moved. Let us work to keep ourselves in His light.
