Advent 16

The Third Tuesday of Advent, December 16, 2008

Isaiah 9:1-7 

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light:  light has dawned upon them, dwellers in a land as dark as death…For thou hast shattered the yoke that burdened them, the collar that lay heavy on their shoulders. 

Who are these people who walked in darkness, but now see a great light?  Whose heavy burden has been lifted? Certainly it is the people who lived before Christ.  But in this season of Advent, there are others who live in darkness.  They may be friends or family members, neighbors or colleagues.  It may be you.  Those who suffer depression live in darkness. 

Depression came to rest on me when my husband died.  I first noticed that I couldn’t stand up straight, stand tall.  I moved very slowly, I who had bustled down the school hallways.  I felt as if I walked on the ocean floor, with all those PSI’s pressing on me. 

And color disappeared.  Everything was sepia or shades of gray, even the bright Texas sky.   

Nothing cured me.  Therapy and antidepressants, regular exercise and healthy eating, deliberate gratefulness and worship—these helped but did not heal me. But what always, always brought light into my darkness, was a smile and friendly words. 

One day as I walked the short hall to the office to sign in, the first teacher at school that day, I feared I would not make it, feared I would break down in the hallway.  Slowly I placed one foot, then the other, in front of me, arriving, exhausted, at the sign-in sheet.  Alicia, the office para, looked up.  “Good morning, Mrs. Caruso,” she chirped.  “I’m so glad to see you this morning.” 

The dim office filled with Light, and so did I. I returned, up that hallway, lighter. 

Many people walk in darkness.  May we who don’t—and we who do—be Light for them.  May we be Christ for each other.  It can begin with a smile, a friendly greeting.  Give it to everyone you meet.  And in a few days, bring it to the stable.  Give your smile to the couple with a newborn son.