One of my friends recently posted a photograph on social media of a place that she loves – I suspect – best in the world. ‘Only two more months to go until I’m back there,’ were the tone of the words she used. It’s good to have things to look forward to. There’s loads of holiday adverts appearing now, showing beautiful blue skies and seas, bright sunshine, laughter and fun, suggesting we can buy into a little colourful excitement for our lives for a short or long period of time.
We spend a lot of time looking forward to things. Christmas might be a distant memory but the countdown to Easter has begun. The shops are now stocked with a plethora of chocolate eggs and rabbits. Everything today seems to be about throwing forward to the next big event. What we are looking forward to about the coming days, weekends and seasons is often a big part of our conversations. It helps get past the mundane days, the grey rainy days, the days when we wish we could just hide under the duvet and sleep the dull hours away.
But of course, living the mundane helps us to fully appreciate the excitement to come. It’s only by walking in the cold and dark of the night that we truly appreciate the glow of the sunrise. It’s only by living through dull days that the exciting one seem – well – more exciting.
Just a small warning here though. If you live your life only by the things you look forward to, you are in danger of always hankering after something you don’t have rather than making the most of what you have here and now. For some people, ‘it’s better to travel hopefully than to arrive’ has become almost a mantra which endlessly disappoints because they’re always working towards the next thing without making the most of the present.
Today is Candlemas. It’s a minor festival in the church calendar compared to Christmas and Advent, Lent or Easter but it’s still important. Candles are lit in services to remind people that the Light of The World can never be put out. It’s to mark the moment that the infant Jesus – the embodiment of light in the Christian faith – is presented in the temple. I can imagine the proud parents arriving to show their firstborn to the world officially for the first time.
In amongst the community in that temple was an old man called Simeon. Simeon had been waiting all his life in hope for the fulfilment of a promise. As he held the baby Jesus in his arms, he saw that promise of the longed-for King who would save his people Israel. All through his life, that promise had kept him going. He truly had something to look forward to that must have brought him light even in his darkest moments and I am sure he spread that light and hope to all those he met.
It’s no coincidence that the prayer of Simeon features in the Anglican night service known as Compline. Compline is a reminder that life is stronger than death and light is stronger that the darkness.
‘Lord, now let thy service depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.’
I know I’ve said this before but hope is a small word but truly a big promise. And the tiniest flickering candle can still put the darkness to shame. Never has light and the hope it brings mattered so much as it has now. Never has it mattered so much that we shine a light to help the lost, the lonely, the frightened and the dispossessed to find the way. And never has it mattered so much that the light will not be defeated by the darkness. Keep those candles lit. You never know when someone will be helped by their light.
Tractorgirl66 