Christmas 2022

Christmas greetings from Fairfax Station, Virginia!

This has admittedly been quite a challenging year, both for our family and for many within our circles. In that light, our celebration of Christmas has taken on a somewhat different tone. Here's part of an Advent reflection that stood out to me recently, one that seems especially fitting to me for our time:

Advent invites us into a prayerful expectation, a holy waiting, an attentive gaze. What are we awaiting? Resplendent light. God’s light.

Isaiah announces that a great light is coming—coming from an unexpected source. It’s making its way through a child, the Messiah. This light is not to be found in some new political power, or in some cultural movement. It’s not located in a particular ideology, but rather is found through the living-God-in-flesh. This is an important theme in Scripture, picked up by John, the Gospel writer. In John’s words, the light that has come is not some impersonal electromagnetic radiation. It’s the staggering truth of the personal manifestation of God’s very self in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (1:5).

Isaiah prophetically speaks about a day that would be coming—a day that has already come in Jesus. Yet we also await another day when the darkness will be fully and finally overpowered. This is the promise in this season. 

Advent reminds us that no matter how dark it gets, the light has come, and the light is coming. So be of good cheer! The darkness you feel today will not have the last word. Neither will the grief, uncertainty, and despair. As Wendell Berry once said, “It gets darker and darker and darker, and then Jesus is born.”

Merry Christmas to you all!

May God's special grace, Christ Himself, be with each of you, both this season and through the times ahead.