TRAVELING
LIGHT According to tradition, Beit Sahour is the village of the Christmas shepherds, who found shelter in nearby caves. While Beit Lechem (Bethlehem) means "house of bread," the name Beit Sahour means "the house of staying up all night." This refers to a remembrance of the past, the long nights of watchful keeping of the flocks, and also signals a commitment for the future, the vigilance that endures in difficult times. The lighting of candles in Beit Sahour is an expression of the age-old dream for peace and healing in a troubled land. Light has always been a symbol for the presence of God. It was the first act of creation. Imagine, four thousand years before Einstein, the ancient Hebrews saw the relativity of light and energy. Genesis begins with an explosion of light. In a very real sense, we ourselves are light. The substance of our bodies is the product of light. Whether we are animal-eaters or vegetarians, the food we eat derives from plants produced by photosynthesis–from light. We need light to survive. There are some people who suffer from SAD, or seasonal affective disorders. When we are deprived of light, we enter into a winter depression with symptoms of diminished energy, increased sleep, weight gain, social withdrawal, lack of concentration, mood changes, and anxiety. Light is so critical to our physiological and psychological health that it is no wonder the ancient peoples worshiped God as pure light. To be at home in the spiritual world was to put off works of darkness. This is what the mystics called the via negativa, the emptying process, the winnowing and pruning by which we learn to let go and surrender to the light, to a love-force greater than we are. We need to get rid of the excess baggage that weighs us down. We need to put off the guilt and anxiety, the fear and hatred and anger and envy and resentment, all those things that drag us down and burden our lives. Jesus as the Light of the World is one who will get us to lighten up by purging us of our sins and showing us a better way of life in the airy light of God's grace. One thing I like about January is that I can begin my new calendar and file away last year's record of appointments and disappointments, of calls and recalls, of things done, not done and undone. I will try hard to leave the debris of 2007 in the past where it belongs. This is a new year with new opportunities and blank pages. The future remains to be written. I would urge you to leave your luggage behind and travel lightly, by letting the light of God into your life. You will see the future more clearly when you are unburdened by the cares of this world.
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