Perspectives

Light and life

By Janita Krayniak
Posted 12/30/21

Years ago, composer Natalie Sleeth penned these words to a simple Advent/Christmas anthem:

“Light one candle for hope! One bright candle for hope. Christ brings hope to every heart, he …

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Perspectives

Light and life

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Years ago, composer Natalie Sleeth penned these words to a simple Advent/Christmas anthem:

“Light one candle for hope! One bright candle for hope. Christ brings hope to every heart, he comes, he comes!”

The song goes on to include candles for peace, joy and love! They represent the four candles many Christian faith traditions include for their advent season leading up to Christmas Eve, when most churches choose to host a candlelight Christmas Eve worship service. And this got me to wondering … why do we, as Christians, place so much emphasis on candles and light at Christmas? And are we the only ones who light candles?

For the Jewish faith, there had been a tyrannical king from Damascus that had ruled over the Jews and forced them into worshipping false idols, Greek gods. After winning their freedom, the Jewish people needed to rededicate their temple by lighting their menorah. There was only a small bit of oil, but miraculously it lasted eight days while they made more oil to keep the eternal flame lighted. Hanukkah celebrates that miracle and there are eight candles in every menorah to represent each day of the miracle.

For the Islamic faith tradition, their month-long season of fasting known as Ramadan ends with a joy filled celebration called Eid, which is celebrated with, you guessed it … lights! For Islam, light represents God’s presences, or possibly one of Allah’s names, “The Light.” The light can also symbolize goodness. Finally, light can also represent Allah’s gift of divine guidance to all, not just Muslims, but to all faiths.  

For Christians, the tradition of a candlelight service stems from many earlier and different traditions. For early Christians, the image of the Magi following the star connected Christians the world over, and following that light became a key element in the Christian faith. 

In Germany long ago, people would build fires by the roadside so others could stop and warm themselves by the fire. In the Roman Catholic tradition, candles are lit in remembrance of loved ones who are being prayed for. In Mexico, the people placed luminaria throughout the streets to represent the number of years since Christ was born.

But for the United Methodist Church, it is a service that brings light into the world — the antithesis of our Good Friday Tenebrae worship service (a service of darkness) that extinguishes the light, as one by one the candles go dark. On Christmas Eve, one by one the candles are lit, as the light and love of the Christ child is born!  

So when you sing the words to Hark the Herald Angels Sing, “Light and life to all he brings …” (a hymn written centuries ago by Charles Wesley), it should serve as a reminder that Jesus Christ was born into the darkness of this broken world over 2,000 years ago. It should also be a challenge for us to invite the Christ child to be born into our hearts today. 2022 will be here in just a few days, with Christmas a not too distant past. May we keep the light of Christ burning in our hearts — not just at Christmas, but every day of our lives!

 

(Janita Krayniak is the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Powell.)

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