And here are the words he gave them:ġ “But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. But in the midst of those years of darkness, even before the worst had come, the people were offered hope.Ĭall him a singer, call him a preacher, or call him a prophet whatever you choose, he gave the Israelites words of hope. Eventually, even Jerusalem was overrun – the walls torn down and the temple destroyed. Both kingdoms fell and the people suffered the worst kind of defeat and agony. During a period of 150 years, both the northern and southern kingdoms were threatened by their enemies. Similar to Jeremiah, where we were last week, the Book of Isaiah was written during a dark and dangerous time. So, if you have your copy of God’s Word, then let me invite you to turn with me to the book of Isaiah. On these Sundays of Advent, leading up to the season of Christmas and beyond, I want to share with you how the light of Bethlehem still shines on us. And today, that light of Bethlehem still shines on us. Over 2,000 years there’s never been a time when that light has gone out. The light of Bethlehem is an everlasting light.
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.Īnd as they say the rest is church history. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie Ībove thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by. He wrote a song which has in it these words: He saw the lights of a small town, walked along its streets, and in those lights, he found hope again.
He traveled to a place where he had never been before. But, he took some time off and went away on a trip. He was greatly depressed and almost gave up in despair. He was on the verge of a complete breakdown. His name was Bill Anderson.Ī few years earlier, an Episcopalian minister in Boston worked himself to near exhaustion. One night when he was up there, he wrote a song called “City Lights.” And as they say the rest is country music history. He would look out over that little town and ponder. Sometimes, at night, he would crawl out of his window and sit on the roof of the hotel. He also got a room at a hotel in town and commuted to school, which was not far away. We can stand it.ĭiane Cameron is a Capital Region writer.A student at The University of Georgia got a job as a disc jockey at a little radio station in Commerce, Georgia. Accepting darkness as the soft companion to light. We can sit in the dark and take a breath. The words of this carol could just as well be a solstice song: “Yet in the dark street shineth, the everlasting light the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” Now, when our primitive fears are felt even through layers of distraction, we are drawn to the light just as our ancient relatives were drawn to stars and fires. But the oil lasted, and the child born in darkness was called the “light of the world.” But the flip side of each story is darkness. The December holidays are about mystery and miracles, oil that lasts eight days and a baby born in a barn. Spirituality is a way out of darkness and into hope and joy. Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. So the wise men’s lesson is this: We have to study and try to be wise men and women, but then we have to get on the road, bring our gifts, and hope we are doing good. They also packed up their gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh, and they gave them. We have to remember that the wise men did more than follow stars. But how do you know until you show up whether there’s going to be a baby or a bullet? We see this most painfully in the news: stories of young people who are heroes and others, the same age, who commit terrible crimes. Of course that’s the problem with star following. Eliot wrote: “At the end we preferred to travel all night, sleeping in snatches, with the voices singing in our ears, that this was all folly.” They had studied the sky for years and then they saw their sign.
The part of the Christmas story that means the most to me is that of the three wise men who journeyed, traveling on a hunch and their deep wanting.