The walking path leads me along the edge of a wooded draw. Glancing down through the shadows of the trees, I notice a bright flash of light. With a turn-aside and a second look, I see that the creek has managed to pull the sun out of the sky, all the way down to the lowest place in the woods. From the water there, the sun blazes up at me.
In his poem “I Will Light Candles This Christmas,” Howard Thurman talks about illuminating the world with more than just wax-dipped wicks flickering with yellow flames. Rather, the light the theologian and civil rights leader envisions burning brightly is the light of Christ shining through us — the light that dashes away sadness with joy, replaces fear with courage and banishes despair with hope.
