What glory grows in the dark
This holy night we make friends with the darkness that surrounds us and the darkness that is within us. Tonight, dear friends, we celebrate the light that shines in the darkness and the glory that grows in the dark.
Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
This might be the only time in the year when we come together to worship in the dark.
Perhaps, when we were children we needed the light left on on the landing because of our fear of the dark. We grow out of that. We are right to continue to be afraid of the dark – the dark deeds of others, those who hide in the dark to harm us, and even our own dark thoughts which can easily bring us down.
But we are among the people Isaiah refers to in our first reading, who have walked in darkness who have seen a great light, we have lived in a land of deep darkness and on us light has shone.
This is what tonight is all about. This holy night helps us make friends with darkness. Hello darkness, my old friend. We’ve come to talk with you again.
There’s a lovely quote I came across. “There is a reason the sky gets dark at night. We were not meant to see everything all the time. We were meant to rest and trust even in the darkness” (Morgan Harper Nichols).
The very first verses of our scriptures explains that in the beginning there was only darkness until God made light. He saw that the light was good and then separated the light from the darkness so that we could have day-time and night-time.
There’s always been night time and the night time gives us the opportunity not to have to see everything all the time, time to rest our eyes and trust even in the darkness. The rest and trust is something we grow into.
On this holy night we celebrate that Christ was formed in darkness – in the darkness of Mary’s womb. We all have this in common. We were all formed in the darkness of the womb. We all begin with darkness.
Hello darkness, my old friend. We’ve come to talk with you again.
Darkness is not only physical but also metaphorical. It’s a word we use to describe hopelessness, depression, grief where the darkness is not limited to night time, but stretches into days, then weeks, then into life-times. People talk of the dark night of the soul.
The prophet, Micah, was speaking metaphorically when he said “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light”. He knows their darkness – the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, the boots of the tramping warriors – and for them the darkness is lit by the child to be named “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”, and the promise that his authority will continually grow until there is endless peace upheld with justice and righteousness.
This holy night we celebrate that joy and glory are found in the darkness of night. We’ve read in tonight’s gospel – of the good news of great joy brought to the shepherds by an angel in their night watch, looking after the sheep in the darkness. The only light in the night was the glory of the Lord that shone around them. That is the light that shines in the darkness.
What glory grows in the dark!
The light that shines in the darkness makes the night hospitable and makes possible a reconciliation with our old friend Darkness. Jesus is born in our darkness and he lives in his darkness. Darkness is a place we can stay awhile. We don’t need to make light of our troubles and those who are troubled around us. Too often we are afraid to get involved and keep the other at arm’s length, or walk by on the other side. But the glory that grows in darkness encourages our hearts, not making light of their troubles, but being a very present help.
Don’t rush the end of Christmas. Christmas is only just beginning, here in this night. There are twelve days of Christmas. The day we are just about to enter is Day ONE. We have plenty of time to dwell on the Christ child, to let his authority grow and glow in our lives. We have time to speak with darkness, our old friend, while the glory of the Lord shines all around.
Grits and Grains 