My husband and I have oft said, “well, today I guess we’ll have to make our own fun.” Not every day is fun-filled and I think as the self-employed, we have learned that if it doesn’t come our way, we sometimes have to make it happen.
We all have emotionally dreary days, nothing exciting comes in the mail, and no one seems to be out there, and if they are, they haven’t phoned in any interest in what we’re up to. Atmospherically, there are more dark days over the winter holidays than there is light. Sometimes, me thinks we need to “make our own light.”
“I am the light of the world,” said Jesus. Even better, he told his followers, “you are the light of the world.” So, this time of year especially, we’d better get about the business of making some light.
Everybody loves to see the holiday lights come up on residences, businesses, town streets, and special displays. Lights truly dispel the darkness and give us good cheer. I think it was St. Francis of Assisi who said, “all the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”
The “winter blues” sets in about now. To their extreme, winter blues can become a depressive disorder known as SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder. Triggered by less sunlight, this seasonal disorder is a real type of depression.
Light therapy can help with SAD symptoms. I know this is serious and this kind of light therapy involves daily therapy with a special light box. However, I wonder on the milder side of the official disorder, if holiday lights might provide the pick-me-up that many more people need, compared to the few with SAD depression.
I’ve read the odd article which has stipulated that some professional designers believe holiday lights indoors, all year long is a faux pas. Who cares. If you care, go ahead and pull down the clear lights which line your fireplace, mantle, and decorate your big plants. But as for me and my household, we’re keeping them up for dark evenings and rainy days, all year long.
Remember the children’s song many of us sang in school or Bible school, “This Little Light of Mine?” Let it shine, folks.
Did you know that there is a literal biological light which emanates from human beings – too faint to see with the eye, but it is extinguished upon death. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew, that we should let our light so shine that we reflect His Spirit within us. What are we routinely reflecting?
My personal belief is that even when we are having a bad day; even if we’re temporarily in a bad mood; even when we feel like we’ll never be happy again, that base core of light within us, still shines. If we follow St. Francis’ wisdom, we must conclude that even when all seems dark, dismal, and hopeless, that glow of biological light, or the measure of spiritual light that dwells within us, will dispel the darkness. Let your light shine.
Have you ever found yourself keeping appointments, running errands, going to work, or doing whatever you need to out in the marketplace, when inside, you’re barely functioning? I’m not talking about moving about without your mandatory cup(s) of coffee. I’m referring to something really hard is going on and you still have to take care of the kids, earn a living, put food on the table or take care of any number of chores that won’t go away.
However, even with that all going on inside your head, you still manage to smile to a stranger waiting in line with you. You still hold the door open for the next person entering the building. Your response to the wait-person or cashier is still courteous, not your usual exuberance, but kind, nonetheless.
How do you think you managed that? I think it’s “this little light of mine.”
I challenge you this season, to take some moments to really absorb the light shining around you. Appreciate that your neighbors, friends, strangers, communities, and organizations have displayed lights, sharing with all of us their light.
Take it all in and let it reflect off of you and bounce back to another human being. Pass on the light, so to speak.