Many people are busy bearing witness to darkness lately, often in destructive ways, seeming to delight in pointing out just how awful this situation or that person is. And there are many who bear witness to pain and injustice and oppression – which is important to remedying such conditions. Often that is part of our calling as followers of Christ.
But not without the even more important calling: to bear witness to the light. That was the vocation of John the Baptist, a holy man who was not the Holy One, who came to bear witness to the coming light:
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
The world badly needs more of us to testify to the light – the light that came into the world in the embodied Christ, and is ever coming in through his Body now, the church.
Where do you find yourself called to testify to the light, to proclaim in the face of poverty or evil, illness or lies the triumph of God’s light – even if things still looks pretty dark? If we want to be effective at offering that counter-testimony to so much of what passes for truth in our world, we have to be aware of where we experience the light of Christ, what darkness we have known to be enlightened by the presence and love of God.
Today, in the midst of preparation for Christmas Eve, I invite you (and me) to take a little time to reflect on where the light of Christ is most visible to you. And then find someone and bear witness to that hope.
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