Proclaim: To Praise or Glorify Openly

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:5 ESV

On Halloween, a profound sense of holiness and awe came over me. As the holiday season approaches, my heart yearns for the sacred One.

We often associate Halloween with darkness, goblins and ghosts and candy. Yet the word hallow merged with eve means holy night. The word holiday has become common enough, yet I see holy plus day in there, and I remember that each day can be filled with the distinctive character of God.

As I pursue a season of rest and solitude, this slowing down of the pace and this shortening of days that pours in more darkness than light, I am strangely comforted. My heart desires to wander through the shadows and see if there is any good in the dark.

As I contemplate the holy entrance of winter and Thanksgiving and Christmas, I discover this quote over at Seasons with Soul:

“Humility, like the darkness,

reveals the heavenly lights.” Henry David Thoreau

And a deeper appreciation for darkness invades. A longing to comprehend how the contrast of dark and light mingle. How a light entered the world and overshadowed the darkness. A miracle of light playing off the night sky, a star leading us to a Savior.

Words taken apart, distilled to parts, broke open a fresh perspective—a need to embrace the holy, the sacred, to sing with hope a carol of redemption. To proclaim a Savior’s birth. To fall on my knees in humility.

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

 

Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born;

O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

 

(John Sullivan Dwight)

 

 

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