But Even in the Darkest Places of Our Lives, a Light Is Shining

“But even in the darkest places of our lives, a light is shining.”
–Margaret Bullitt-Jonas

These words appear in a beautiful collection of reflections for Advent and Christmas from the Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas. We share with you an excerpt from her book, Joy of Heaven to Earth, Come Down. Please visit the links below to learn more about her ministry and writings as well as to order this collection for yourself or others.

Blessings to you in this season of noticing and attending to the tender light of Christ here and coming.

Third Tuesday of Advent

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness –
on them light has shined.
-- Isaiah 9:2

I saw a bush alight with birds. A flock of cedar waxwings was winding between the branches, dodging thorns to reach for berries. I stared in amazement as the small birds swooped among the crimson berries with wings outstretched, chirping as they darted from twig to twig.

I found the image inside me the next day in prayer. I couldn’t stop gazing. The whole thorny bush was in my chest. I felt the awkwardness and ache of this bush that no one likes, an invasive multiflora rosa. It was planted in my chest, the epitome of everything that harms or causes discomfort. Yet it was filled with birds! Beauty was running in and out of that mean-looking bush. Life was circling around and springing up from within it, more life than anyone could imagine.

I was holding the whole thing -- I was the whole thing -- and I marveled.

Life can be as thorny as that bush, as tangled and tormenting. We bear many wounds -- places of anguish and hurt -- and we inflict wounds, too. The darkness is real. But even in the darkest places of our lives, a light is shining. It flickers and dances like birds twining themselves among thorns, bringing life.

The light of Christ is tender, enlivening, and pure. It speaks in silence, saying: I see you. I know what you are going through. I love you. In the radiance of that light -- which sees us in our entirety, which sees us whole -- we come to embrace and accept every part of our selves, even the thorns and broken twigs. Slowly we learn to perceive the world like that, too, to experience its ugliness, peril, and beauty with an open heart.

For the mountains may depart

and the hills be removed,

but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,

and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,

says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

-- Isaiah 54:10

The Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, Ph.D. is a writer, retreat leader, and climate activist, and serves as Priest Associate of Grace Episcopal Church (Amherst, MA). Her latest book, Joy of Heaven, to Earth Come Down, offers daily meditations for Advent and Christmas that focus on the sacredness of God’s Creation. Her memoir Holy Hunger portrays her recovery from an eating disorder and the spiritual longing behind addiction.Christ's Passion, Our Passions explores forgiveness, compassion, and hope in light of Jesus' last words from the cross.