Don’t Fear the Dark Because It Births the Brightest Light
By: Kyle Chastain
Tags: Christianity, Joy, Christmas, Inspiration, Hope

This holiday season, most of us are looking for light.

A lot of traditions celebrate this time of year with lights, whether on trees or candles. The lights represent hope through the otherwise long, dark nights in the Northern Hemisphere.

But this year the dark feels especially deep for many people.

Let’s get one thing straight: the pandemic touches everyone in some way. Maybe you lost someone close to you this year. If you lost a job, you’re certainly not alone. If you’re unable to physically spend time with family this holiday season, millions of others are in the same position. Or maybe for you, it’s something deeper and darker that dims this season of lights.

But if you’re willing to hold on through the darkness, your darkest places are the birthplace of new light.

Light comes from the darkest places

There’s a reason ancient stories stay with us long after they seem relevant to modern life.

It’s because the truths expressed in these stories are deeper than any single culture. These stories are full of truths ingrained so deep in our unconscious that, when expressed in words, make your soul say “Yes!”

The New Testament book of Luke is one of two accounts of the Christmas story–the birth of Christ–in the Bible. The birth of Jesus came at a very dark period in history for the Jewish people. Forget about the quaint picture of a baby born in a wooden barn. Political upheaval, turmoil, and oppression were the norm under Roman ruled Israel.

In those days, everyone except the corrupt religious leaders and aristocracy had it bad. But no one had a worse life than shepherds. That’s why in Luke, heavenly messengers announced Jesus’ birth to them first.

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. (Luke 2:8–9, NLT)

Why does any of this matter to you?

There’s a shepherd in all of us

In his book Heart and Mind: The Four-Gospel Journey for Radical Transformation Alexander Shaia explains shepherds in the first century were:

[O]utcasts, people who had few skills, no resources, and little family. Feared, they lived lives of near starvation, isolated from regular society. Our present equivalent might be the marginalized long term homeless. (p. 309)

In the ancient Mediterranean world, society often had full control of your position in life. Those relegated to the position of a shepherd were outcasts. They often counted among their ranks thieves, rapists, and pedophiles. Reeking of sheep, shepherds were shunned by “polite society” and looked on in shame.

But don’t turn up your nose in disgust, because there’s a shepherd in you too.

The hurt, pain, and shame that you’d rather keep locked out in the darkness is the shepherd in you. It’s also the birthplace of new light. It’s the place where transformation begins. It doesn’t matter where your darkness comes from:

your past

your failures

your insecurities

your broken relationships

your lies

The birth of hope, the Light of the World, was first announced in the darkest place among people with the least reason for joy.

If that’s you this holiday season, there’s hope.

The Christmas season is about the birth of light in the deepest darkness. Not only a time of cultural and political darkness but also the dark and undesirable places inside of you.

This year hasn’t been easy for anyone. If you feel a little less holiday cheer, no one can blame you. But the message of the Christmas story is that when everything seems lost, hold on because today the light is born again.

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