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One of my favorite theologians tells a story about a young boy from a poor village. One day a schoolteacher came to their village and among the things he told them was that the world was round rather than flat. This was astonishing and fearful news for the young pupils. Many of them refused to believe it – after all, they could see that the world was flat. In confusion, the young boy ran home to his grandmother. “Grandmother,” he said, “what are we going to do? Teacher says that the world is round!”
“Well,” said the grandmother, “Can you still love?”
During this darkest time of the year (my apologies to those in the southern hemisphere, but we already picked the dates) we celebrate the return of light to the world. Whether we celebrate the birth of a child or the birth of all children, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun or eight days of light when we had no reason to expect it, we light lamps and candles and string electric lights on our houses and trees. We defy the darkness.
So here we are again, in a dark world where there is war and poverty, loneliness and illness, fear and indifference. Like the young boy in the story, our world is being constantly overturned and our worldview challenged. And still we insist that a light shines in the darkness that the darkness does not comprehend. We square our shoulders and lift our hearts and we try our best to be that light.
Once again we ask ourselves, “Can we still love?” And once again we face the darkness and answer, “Yes”.
All best wishes for a defiant holiday season
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