(Each Saturday, a faith leader offers a personal perspective in this space. To become part of this series, email religion@recorder.com)
“The seasons will always turn; the clouds will gather and the cold will come. We will survive them. We will grow, regardless of the weather. We all know wonder where there has been despair. There will be happiness and we will remember it. There will be friendships that we won’t forget.
“Love is the constant whereby we endure all winters and all storms. It is the climate in which all things can thrive. Welcome the darkness, embrace it as a canopy from which the stars can hang, for there are always stars when we are where we ought to be, amongst the faces we love best, each with our place, each with our purpose, as fixed and familiar as the constellations. The darkness is beautiful, for how else can we shine?”
These are the words that Heidi Thomas wrote for the closing monologue of season nine of “Call the Midwife.” Written long before the pandemic, I find her words to be almost prophetic in their wisdom.
This year, certainly, we need the promise that light will penetrate the gloom of a pandemic that has isolated us, taken our loved ones from us, and caused global despair. We need the luminosity of a star of great brilliance, literally and metaphorically.
This month, Jupiter and Saturn just happened to have given us the literal “Christmas Star” for the first time in 800 years. I do not think this is a coincidence. Astronomers worldwide have recorded the event and posted the celestial convergence on the web.
How did the Wise Men — Casper, Melchior, and Balthazar (astronomers, not kings) — find their star? They didn’t have the conveniences of modern, astronomical technology. Simply by observing the planets and stars, these men realized something unusual was occurring.
No spoiler alert needed: we know the outcome. The Wise men followed the star and found the babe and his mother. They offered their gifts and a warning to the baby’s father. Then, they returned to their homelands.
I have pondered this question for years. Once the star is seen, once the holidays are over, what next? Repeatedly, I have watched the orbit of humanity change from good will back to the push and shove of daily existence within days. Why? Why can’t we continue to focus our hearts and minds on what the Light represents — peace, love and joy? Are the celebrations of Light observed by cultures around the world simply mindless acts commemorated by rote?
I don’t think so. This past year has been similar to being in labor. I believe we are witnessing the birth of a spiritual evolution. There is great darkness around the world at this time. This darkness stems not only from the pandemic, but also from poverty, the ongoing wars and from the greed of those having lost all sense of the Light.
However, there is also the brilliance which shines brighter than a hundred Christmas Stars. This light is found in the hearts of people we see every day. These people with Light in their hearts become the stars hanging from our canopy. They understand that love is the constant in this cosmic equation of darkness and light. They are the ones who will help us understand that while we suffered a deep darkness, we have also been given a great opportunity. We have not only the opportunity, but the responsibility to birth a new existence, an existence filled with the knowledge that we are not alone and the Light grows within each of us.
The time has come to remove the shades, lift the basket and uncover our Light.
“No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, nor does one put it in a hidden place. Rather, one puts it on a lamp stand so that all who come and go will see its Light.” (The Gospel of Thomas 33: 2-3) Our inner light cannot shine if it is hidden. Now is the time to let our Light shine.
The Rev. Linda M. Rhinehart Neas is an ordained interfaith minister. She graduated from The New Seminary in New York City and often fills the pulpit in local Franklin County Churches. She maintains an international online ministry through Facebook. Rev. Neas can be reached at revlindaneas2013@gmail.com and https://www.facebook.com/revlindaneas/