The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas

Readings of the Day 

My son went to college in Denver. While college was a great experience for him, it brought stellar experiences for me. Home has always been in the Midwest, but I love Colorado, adore the mountains, and long to soak in the crisp air that always accompanies a new snowfall. I was in Colorado more during those four years than at any time before he enrolled or after he graduated.

Driving across Kansas to Colorado put me in touch with how impatient I can be. I completely appreciate the beauty of farmland and rolling fields of sunflowers, but not when driving toward the promise of snowcapped mountains. I’d cross the state line into Colorado and sigh in frustration when the landscape still looked the same as western Kansas. I remember being SO READY for the drive to be over and arrive at my desired destination.

We are standing at the end of a tough, tough year. I’m quite impatient for 2020 to end, for COVID to be managed, for economic recovery to occur, for life to feel *normal* again. But I know that as I step over that time threshold from 2020 to 2021, there’s no magic that will happen at the stroke of midnight. In fact, the world may look pretty much the same when I rise on January 1^st as it did when I retired to bed on December 31^st. It’s hard not to impatiently wonder out loud, “how long, O Lord…….” We join a lengthy line of God’s people who prayed those words: Miriam and Moses fleeing toward the Red Sea; Joshua and the Israelites hiding and waiting to cross into the promised land; Isaiah as he lived and taught among “the people walking in darkness;” the two disciples on the road to Emmaus… We, the people of God, have a long history of walking through turmoil, and then walking just a bit further.

This is why the words of John in today’s scripture take hold in my heart: “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” We keep moving forward through trying times with the firm knowledge that the light we see isn’t just “at the end of the tunnel,” but beside and around us as a comfort and a beacon. John’s words remind us that in all times, in all ages, in all events, God provides the light we need. A little light on the path makes the journey easier and gives us confidence in our next steps. A light up ahead calls us to keep moving even when darkness appears to crowd in.

At some point, we’ll stand in the full brilliance of the light of Christ. But till that day, the firm knowledge that darkness cannot overcome light is enough to keep us going. I’m SO READY for the problems of 2020 to be behind us.  Here’s to the moments of light we will find in 2021.

Susan Walker is Executive Director, Outreach & Engagement, at Catholic Charities of Kansas City – St. Joseph.

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