That light isn’t ancient history.

Perhaps more than ever this holiday season, I have reflected on the meaning of light. So many places, so many scriptures, so many songs talk about the light that penetrated the darkness with the birth of Jesus.

While the contrast of light and darkness seems to be overshadowed, pun intended, by the glitz and glitter that overwhelm us with a season we call Christmas.

I have been driven to reflect and to consider that the kingly rule of God with its dominant message of love introduced and highlighted in what we now call Advent challenged the empire created by Caesar Augustus.

The emperor of Rome claimed divinity, including a birth conceived by the gods. He sought to Romanize all of society with the message and promise of Pax Romana, the peace of Rome. A peace achieved with violence and power.

This Jesus that came to this world, born in a backwater community that a contemporary political power, mesmerized by wealth and greed, would probably label a [expletive] hole, offered a peace that was achieved through grace, love, and joy.

That light was born miles away from Rome, not only in miles, but in message and its promise: peace on earth and goodwill toward men.

The Magnificat of Mary, the mother of Jesus, dared to suggest that his message would put down the mighty from their thrones and exalt those of low degree and fill the hungry with good things, and the rich he would send away empty.

At no other time in my history have we needed that light more. A light that exposes the darkness as impotent and reveals the shadows as powerless.

Yet our need for a light is not our need for ancient history, nor is it couched in the sentimentality of visiting kings and poor shepherd boys, but it is a light that is for now.

And it finds its reflection in the lives that breathe today and dares to suggest that Jesus and his way is the path toward peace, healing, and hope.

Let us not trade this light for a darkness known for its violence, bias, and hate. But let's find a way to let it shine in those places where war, poverty, and prejudice flourish.

Places that seek to snuff out the candle, the torch, the blaze, the stars that give us hope.