“He Is the Light,” New Era, Dec. 2020, 12–13.
He Is the Light
Thousands of miles from home, I learned a lesson from pinpoints of light trillions of miles away.
Illustration by Gabriele Cracolici
It might sound strange, but I had always been excited for Christmas on my mission, hundreds or even thousands of miles away from the usual family drama and commercial distractions. Christmas was about Christ, and what better way to celebrate than by helping others come unto Him?
One evening in December, my companion and I were heading back to our apartment after a day of missionary work in La Paz, a magical place on the outskirts of Laoag City, Philippines. I was sitting in the sidecar of a tricycle crammed next to my six-foot-tall companion, and I was just loving life. Cool air whipped past us, reminding me (almost) of snowy Christmases back home—but it still wasn’t nearly as cold as I was used to in December.
As we rode through the countryside, my eyes focused heavenward. Up above, far from the light and noise of the city, there were thousands of visible stars. But fewer and fewer stars were visible as we approached the center of town, until only the brightest ones could be spotted.
I thought about the light from the stars and Jesus Christ. I thought of the star announcing His birth and Christ Himself, the “bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16). He is the brightest star, the shining example for all of us. And yet, like those stars I saw while looking out of the tricycle, even He can be obscured by light pollution. The more distractions, the more artificial light, the less visible the natural light becomes. Out in a province of the Philippines, some stars can still be seen even from the middle of the town, but in megacities like Manila, you can’t see a single star at night. The light from advertisements, businesses, and homes all block out the light of distant stars.
The same thing happens when we surround ourselves with distractions and artificial lights. It becomes more difficult to see Christ’s light.
This is especially true around Christmastime. It is easy to overbook the holidays and make ourselves as busy as Manila during rush hour. There are gifts to find, parties to plan, cards to write, and countless performances and events to attend. When we feel that we don’t have a spare moment to look up, we might not even realize how obscured Christ’s light has become in our lives.
As we light our homes and trees, we can’t forget to let the Light of Christ into our hearts. We might want to pause the festivities for a moment to remember what we are celebrating. Christmas is about Christ. He is the light, and if we minimize distractions and look up, we can see Him, ever constant and ever shining for the whole world to see.