As evidenced by the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary last Friday, we are living in dark times. I know I was one of thousands of parents who, with red, puffy eyes, questioned the safety of my own children as they sat in their classrooms that day. Our hearts grieved as flags were lowered to half mast, and, as advised by a visibly heart stricken President Obama, we hugged our children a little tighter and a little longer that night. We wished there was something we could do to ease the unimaginable pain of those grieving parents in Connecticut, but we knew there was nothing. For my part, I felt heartbroken, hopeless, and despondent. In the wake of this wave of grief and shock which had swept the nation, my own kindergartner returned home from school. I think I hugged him for about ten minutes as tears flowed freely. Of course, children are very perceptive, and he knew that something was wrong. I explained to him, with as little detail as possible, the tragedy that had occurred that morning. We ate lunch and he asked if he could play in the front yard for a bit. A few moments after going out, he came back through the front door looking very anxious. "Mom", he said, "one of our reindeer is missing." I looked out the window and sure enough, one of our two lighted lawn reindeer was nowhere to be seen. "Did that bad man who killed all those people steal our reindeer too?", he asked. In his youthful innocence, my sweet boy simply took one very tragic and horrific event and one minor lawn theft and linked them to the same villain. It was too much. I would not have my precious son's faith in human goodness thwarted by both an evil psychopath and a thieving Grinch. So, as any good parent would, I made up a story. I told him that one of Santa's reindeer was probably sick, as the reindeer flu had been rampant this year. I explained that I was fairly certain that Santa had sprinkled some magic North Pole dust on our reindeer and borrowed him for his sleigh team. Now, instead of being discouraged, confused and scared at the world being full of bad and mean people, his eyes lit up with excitement at the prospect of our very own lawn reindeer flying with Santa's team. Of course, the consequence of my imaginative solution is that I now have to go out and buy another reindeer with our extinct Christmas budget, place it in our yard on Christmas Eve, and leave a typed letter from Santa thanking us for the use of our reindeer. But, if it brings a little bit of hope and excitement back into my children's lives, it will be more than worth the effort.
I can think of another very dark time in the world's history. It was a time rife with wars and rumors of wars. For many, it was a time of oppression, poverty and fear. It was a time when a vicious and evil ruler murdered innocent children, amid many other atrocities. Then, one exceptionally bright Spring night, Hope came to the world in the form of a tiny baby. Emmanuel rested in a lowly manger, as most of the world slept on, quietly unaware that the world as they knew it had just been reborn. In that humble stable, wrapped in swaddling bands, lay the hope of all the ages, Love incarnate. God is love. God is hope. God is light. The gift of His Son as Savior was His perfect love made manifest. Thirty three years later, evil men crucified the Son of God. What those men could not have known at the time was that by their cruel and evil actions, they allowed hope to shine ever more brightly. Three days later, on a bright Spring morning, the bands of death were forever broken by the One who had been wrapped in swaddling bands on a chill Spring night three decades before.
There will always be darkness and evil in the world. There will always be people who do mean and petty things, as well as people who commit unthinkable acts of cruelty and violence. But as long as we remember to look to the Light, and to share that light within us, the darkness will not win. When we act with love and hope, God is there, piercing the darkness with an everlasting light. When we comfort a grieving child, God is there. When we visit a lonely widow, God is there. Even in the midst of bleakest despair, teachers sacrificed their own lives to save their students. God was there. Though the families of those lost in the Sandy Hook shooting will have many dark days ahead of them, the darkness has not won. This Christmas, I hope and pray that we will all let our lights shine a little more brightly. We cannot undo the tragedies which have occurred. We cannot make them right. And we will never be able to make sense of senseless violence. But we can be a little kinder. We can press on with hope, allowing faith to replace our fear, allowing love to replace our despair.
O, Little Town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie.
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.
Yet, in thy dark streets shineth
The Everlasting Light.
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.
And to the angels of Sandy Hook: May you sleep in Heavenly peace.
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