My Most Precious Christmas Memory

My most precious Christmas memory is the floating Christmas tree that graces the central lake of Hagerstown City Park, every holiday season.   Anchored in the very center of the lake, it is an inspiring sight -- especially at night – as it lights up the dark, ominous water.

But the tree and its light were even more striking when I discovered the origins of the Hagerstown City Park.  Originally the City Park was a swamp.  But there's more:  before that, it was an industrial dump site.  And so the City Park, early-on, was a very despairing place. But in the 1920s Hagerstown leaders decided to redeem the blight, turning the swamp/dump into what many consider one of the premier city parks in the U.S.  http://www.escapehere.com/destination/10-most-beautiful-city-parks-in-the-u-s/

For our family, the Hagerstown City Park is a landmark locale.  It’s where my Dad asked my Mom to marry him.  It’s where my youth group always had Easter sunrise services, on the steps of the Museum of Fine Arts.  And it’s where Robin and I had our second kiss (the first being at Cunningham Falls State Park)!  

But it’s also the place I always went to be inspired at Christmas.  I mean there was just something uplifting about seeing that Christmas tree floating on that lake...rising...shining...in that former swamp/dump -- in spite of the darkness.   

And for good reason:  God was in the moment.  For scripture tells us God wants light to shine out of darkness.  'Let light shine out of darkness,' God declares in Genesis 1:3.  But now the light is brighter, better.  For now, the light is ‘down to earth,’ brilliantly shining in Jesus!   For now, Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “…the light of the…glory of God [is found] in the face of Christ…”  (2 Corinthians 4:6).

It was striking to hear Cardinal Timothy Dolan advance this emphasis, as he appeared on morning talk shows on Christmas Day.  Though each talk show host used different words, each inferred that 2017 had been the darkest year -- ever.  There's no way, each exclaimed, that there's still hope and light, given this depth of despair.

Dolan was brilliant; though empathetic, he quickly pointed out the timing of Christmas.  Our traditional observance of Christmas happens in the context of the darkest season of the year.  Why right before Christmas, Dolan pointed out, the Winter Solstice occurs, Winter Solstice being:    

"...the exact moment when the sun’s most direct rays reach their southernmost point south of the equator, along the Tropic of Capricorn, at 23.5 degrees south latitude...On the winter solstice, Earth’s northern hemisphere reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun..." https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/12/21/winter-solstice-2017-five-things-you-should-know-about-the-shortest-day-of-the-year/?utm_term=.99da0e3a657f

Cardinal Dolan went on to point out, the Solstice experience of darkness has terrified people, for centuries.  I mean, the darkest dark, is devastating.  And so, historically, persons have 'freaked out' at the approach of the Winter Solstice.  At the root of the unrest:  

"...an ancient fear that the failing light would never return unless humans intervened with anxious vigil or antic celebration..." http://www.candlegrove.com/solstice/  

But Dolan reassured:  an anxious, antic response is no longer required because the peace and centeredness of Bethlehem has descended.   The gospel writer John, says it best: 

"...The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world...[but] the world did not recognize him. ...Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God...The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth..." (John 1:9-14, emphasis added).

Because of the One and Only, because of Grace and Truth, because of Christmas -- hope arcs upward again, after the Winter Solstice, or any intense experience of despair.  Literally, as the Sun appears more frequently, but Spiritually as The Son is newly available to intersect with, and inhabit, our lives.

Throughout the Advent season, I have entered into the Advent calendar of The Church of Scotland.  For Christmas Day, yesterday, a summary video was featured -- encapsulating the entire devotional experience, including choice summary statements regarding the core meaning of Christmas.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8XZapqbSEs&feature=youtu.be   

I was especially struck by the words of the Scottish minister, David Galbraith.  At Christmas, Galbraith reflected:

"...[Christ, the] inner voice breaks into the dull routine of habit and routine -- calls us to risk more, dig deeper -- pulls us into a new rhythm, a joyous new freedom -- that effects the life of others, as much as ourselves..."

I like that.  For it itemizes how light shines in darkness: through Christ's inner voice, breaking into familiarity, calling us to the unknown, a new, empowering, risky cadence -- infectious, in every way.

As we continue through this holiday season, let Christ infect you in every way. Believe, Christ desires to redeem darkness, turning swamps into salvation, dumps into deliverance.  

For wherever darkness hovers, radiance 'floats' -- for God does declare -- let there be light - the light of Jesus.  Rising, shining -- dominantly -- in spite of the intensity, and bleak, of our days.