Currents of Faith: Open and Unfolding Reflections

“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
This year, we will be spending Christmas day in the oncology ward with our recently married 27 year old son Matt and wife Ingrid. While other families will be unwrapping presents on Christmas morning, our son will be in the middle of what we hope will be the fourth and final cycle of five day-long chemotherapy treatments. We realize that we are not alone in facing illness and tragedy this Christmas season. Like many other parents, whether in Darfur, Iraq, Israel and Palestine, or the cancer ward, we will be experiencing the interplay of hope and fear, and light and darkness. Perhaps, our experience reflects one of the deeper truths of Christmas. Christmas embraces and transforms both light and darkness. God is present in the most unexpected places, where despair threatens to defeat hope. While we might hope for a supernatural miracle for our son, perhaps the Christmas miracle we pray for is of a different order - the miraculous truth that God is with us, sharing our lives and giving us the courage, energy, and hope to face what lies ahead. What happens to our son and our family matters, just like what happens to the child at Darfur matters, not just to loving parents, but to God, whose love embraces “the hopes and fears of all the years.” This year, we will give thanks and light candles of hope because God is truly with us, not just on Christmas but in every moment of light and darkness. ~ Bruce Epperly