“78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:78-79
When I was a young soldier, I
participated in a field training exercise, FTX, in which we trained and honed our
basic soldier skills. I was assigned the “HOG,” an M-60 the machine gun, a heavy
beast of a weapon, but one that I was proud to hump…for a while. One of the
tasks we trained that exercise was movement to contact. So, I found myself trudging
across the prairie in the deep dark night of a Fort Riley, Kansas summer. As
things would have it, the column became misoriented in the dark and wandered
into a deep ravine. It was so dark that I did not notice when the soldiers in
front of me tumbled down the steep embankment. The first indication of trouble
that I had was when I stepped into nothing and found myself falling through the
air. Fortunately, the fall was not too great and only two or three men behind
me took the same plunge. Eventually we untangled ourselves and clambered back
to the top to continue our operation. I’ve never forgotten the feeling of
disorientation as I spun through the air, heading toward the pile of soldiers
below. Being lost and misoriented is disastrous.
Advent, the season of lights,
reminds me that without Emanuel we wander around lost in the darkness, fumbling
to avoid disaster. I think of my own life and the period of extreme darkness
that enveloped me, making good decisions near impossible. I stumbled from one
chaotic poor decision to another; eventually I found myself face-down on the
pavement. I had to confront the failure of my own decision-making process. As
humans, especially male humans, we like to think we’re the masters of our own
fate; however, a quick glance through news headlines shows a brutally failed
decision-making process. Much like my younger self, we simply stumble from
chaos to chaos. As a history major in university, I learned that there has been
no “golden age,” an age in which we lived in peace and contentment. We left
that behind in the garden. Ever since the strong have preyed on the weak and
the weak have suffered from their own poor choices. But Jesus came to provide
light.
When I tumbled into the ravine on
the Kansas prairie, the Army had not adopted wide-spread night vision goggles.
Only a few units had them. Mine did not. Later as an officer, I enjoyed easy
access to NVGs. Jesus came to shine His light into our world. His light helps
us walk in wiser ways. Despite what some naysayers claim, much of the
advancement in human relations arises out of Christians who take Jesus’ words
seriously. Jesus’ light helps us to love our neighbor as ourselves. His light
directs our feet into more appropriate paths. And on a personal level, His
light illuminates our own faulty decision-making processes, guiding us into a
better life.
Lying on the pavement in the dark
in Abilene, a light shone into my inner darkness. I knew with surety that
unless something changed, I would end up either dead or in prison. It would be
nice to say that from that moment on I walked circumspectly; but, that would be
a lie. However, my path did alter that night. The Advent light directed my feet
into new ways. Though the journey was long, the tenor of my life changed.
Christmas, Emanuel, Jesus shone His light into my world, and I could see to
make better decisions.
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