We said good-bye to my father-in-law last week.  He had lived a wonderful life that touched many, many others with laughter, encouragement, respect, and kindness.  I will miss him very much.

One of his favorite times of year was Christmas.  Born in December and a joyful church-goer, he had many reasons to relish this time of year.  He had one of the most sincere, convincing “Ho! Ho! Ho!” performances I have ever heard.  He always shook the gifts he received, and was amazingly accurate at guessing the contents.  He was one of those “forever” gift openers, too (mostly for the fun of it), picking each piece of tape off the paper and sometimes folding the wrapper neatly before he opened the package held within.  And there was never a gift he didn’t enjoy and appreciate sincerely.  He was a joy to give to!

One of his favorite things to do was to look at Christmas lights – tour neighborhoods or drive through special display areas.  He never failed to delight in the bright displays, and ooh and ahh over them, even if they weren’t as impressive as others he had seen.  When he had his cellphone in his later years, he would enjoy taking pictures, and when he finally got to where he couldn’t get out, enjoyed the pictures we would send him.  He seemed always to be fascinated with those lights.

The lights that seemed to delight the most were those which appeared to move – train wheels that rotated, reindeer that leapt, cascades that looked like waterfalls, and the always-popular waving Santa.  You could almost imagine that those lights were alive!  Living light!  What a wonderful thing to contemplate!  It’s almost as though there is something inside of us that wants light to be alive…

After all, all of life as we know it owes its continued existence to light, either directly or indirectly.  It only makes sense that light should enjoy the same vibrancy.  That may be part of the magic of fireflies – they are one of our most common examples of living light.

The other example is the person whom we celebrate with all these lights – Jesus.  I can’t help but think of John’s description of “the Word” who was with God and who was God, being the Life which is the Light of humans.  In the first section of his Gospel (read it here), John describes this amazing being, who is living Light and living Word, becoming flesh and making his dwelling among us.  It’s a story of truly living light!  How amazing!

No wonder we celebrate Christmas with lights of all kinds – on city streets and rural houses, on trees and railings, in special displays and as part of the activities of the season like candle-lighting ceremonies.  It is because we are celebrating the Light that came into the world, the Light that conquers darkness and brings His life to everyone else whom He touches, whether they want it or not. 

So, this season, every time I see moving lights, whether they blink, or seem to rotate, or are carried by celebrating folks, or just wave in the wind, I will think of them as being alive.  I will rejoice in the Word of Life who has welcomed my father-in-law into the world of everlasting light, celebrating with delight as he would be.  And I will remember the gift of that little Baby, humbly born in a manger as Living Light, and give thanks for his grace upon grace freely given.