There Is Still A Bright Star
The Light Of Faith And Hope Are Shining Brightly In Spite of Ourselves
The year may seem to have been a little upside down. OK, a lot upside down.
After an unprecedented year in politics and culture, devastating hurricanes, storms and ravaging fires, sabre rattling games of chicken with North Korea and more self-imposed division than we’ve seen since the turn of the 19th century, there is no shortage of concern that ‘this is crazy time’ running through our collective minds.
For every extreme headline we take in, many of us run that much faster to the cooking channel, cute puppies or some sports silo for solace and sanity. Thank God for smartphones/iPhones: they allow us to jump thumbs first away from the uncontrollable sideshow/nightmare that the real world can be and into our personal Shangri-Las where things are under control, make sense and feel good all the time.
But that’s the beauty of this time of year. It’s about faith and renewal. The weeks just before the calendar turns to a New Year, we are reminded that there are larger, benevolent forces at work and that we have an opportunity to reset our own approaches, our own barometers, our own attitudes – especially toward each other.
More so than perhaps in a generation, we are recognizing that we must play a more direct hand in the destinies of our communities. If our families are to have more than a meal today, but a future as well, we must be more active now.
The biblical story of that bright star on the night of Christ’s birth has that message of hope, faith and renewal resonating within it. And that message still remains with us today – maybe more than ever. It’s up to us to look to that light and to move toward it. Whether we are among the three kings of the world or the little drummer boys, we have the opportunity to join in that light. We can, and should, keep that in our hearts and with our families this holiday season. And then choose to move into the New Year renewed and recommitted to that choice. Yes, we can.
