For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? Romans 8:24
Today is the Winter Solstice. In the northern hemisphere it’s the darkest day of the year. Sometimes I think darkness gets a bad rap. The fact that the church picked this time of the year as Jesus’ birth is not a coincidence. Christianity baptized many traditions and claimed them as ours. My favorite carol is “In the Bleak Midwinter”—which fills my soul. Today I want to celebrate darkness.
In 1986 I moved to the San Luis Valley in Colorado. My 11 years in that mystical place gave me many gifts. Our home was on an acreage away from the town. Sometimes I would go outside at night just to breath the alpine air. The stars always put on a show. I had been doing this for a while when I realized that what I thought was a collection of clouds, was actually the Milky Way galaxy.
One summer we hosted an international exchange student from Japan. I will never forget walking outside with him on one of his first nights with us. He stopped and pointed to the sky, “Beautiful,” was his only word. He explained that in Tokyo you can never see the stars because “we have too much light” (light pollution).
The eighth chapter of Romans ranks up there with my favorite Christmas carol. It reminds me that at the core of our faith is the truth of hope. That hope is grounded in the reality that “the Spirit helps us in our weakness” (vs 26). In the supposed darkness of these times, whether in our communities or our beings, the forces of light and hope are present.
Rev. Dr. Mark W. Pumphrey
President of the Phillips Alumni Association
Senior Pastor at First Christian Church in Greeley, Colorado
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