Light vanquishes darkness

By Judy Joseph McSween

Time Out Specialist – Emotional Intelligence, Conversational Intelligence and Spiritual Intelligence Coach.

Let’s PAUSE and become fully present to this moment. Become aware of your breathing…gently close your eyes…take a deep BREATH, in through your nostrils and out through your mouth.  Repeat three times. Be aware of the sensation in your body as you engage in this breathing process.  As you end the cycle, gently open your eyes. Have your Bible within reach.

Light. From Divali to Advent, there’s an excitement that fills me, as conversations centre on light overcoming darkness, good overcoming evil. Like a child, I witness the beauty of the light displays and am filled with awe and simultaneously silenced.

In October this year, I arrived in Houston, Texas on the eve of the Divali celebrations. There, I was greeted by the most enormous mandir that I had ever witnessed and will probably ever witness, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir.  The literature states that it consists of a 11,500-square-foot, 73-foot-tall open-air temple and a 25,620-square-foot surrounding deck, housed on 22 acres.  Imagine the spectacle of this being lit up for Divali —deyas and fireworks.

Divali symbolises the spiritual victory of Dharma over Adharma, light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. To witness the enormity of these celebrations in Houston, USA, was amazing!

Celebrants journeyed to the mandir and illuminated their homes, temples and workspaces with deyas, candles and lanterns. I experienced a strong sense of “joy filled hope”.

This segued into my five-day silent retreat at the Ruah Spirituality Center, Villa Martel, which is run by the Sisters of Charity. Each day at 5 a.m., I was able to enjoy the silence of the Adoration room, my only companion, an elderly nun; the only light, the lamp that hovered over the Eucharist.

For me, the Villa was characterised by the daily ability of light to pierce through every crack in the landscape. In reflecting on my experience, I shared: “how the sunlight pierced its way through the stonework, the clouded skies and the trees has enhanced my clarity of what it means to be a light in this world”.

And now to be in the midst of our Advent celebrations, a time of waiting and preparing for the light to enter the world.

John 1:9–13, “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to  who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

I guess that what makes this Advent even more thrilling for me, is the arrival of this light at a time when media headlines indicate that we are indeed living in darkness.

Our hope and faith are truly being tested, as it was during the Covid pandemic in 2020, when we were faced with new, tremendous uncertainty and untimely death.

Five years later, we are faced with an unfamiliar darkness and fortunately we have the memory of the many lights that shone during 2020 to 2022. We have the wisdom of Scripture that encourages us to be awake and alert (Mt 25:1–13). Arise from our slumber and prepare through reflection on Scripture. See the light in the other and respond with acts of mercy and compassion. Let us be like John 1:6–8.  Let our lights shine for all the world to see.

As we journey towards the commemoration of the birth of Christ on December 25, and the end of the Jubilee Year of Hope on January 6, 2026, let us do so grounded and propelled by John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

Thank you for journeying with me this year. May we all be as lighthouses to each other. Wishing you all a happy and holy Christmas.

Feel free to contact Judy Joseph Mc Sween to schedule a personal or a group Time Out session judy@timeoutspecialist.com or Mobile (1868) 684-9827 www.timeoutspecialist.com