Tip of My Iceberg

There were thumps and thuds on the roof, and it wasn’t Santa’s reindeer.

I’d been inside the house, decorating our tree and working into a rhythm of preparing for the holidays. I’d love to approach the Christmas season with a calm and peaceful posture rather than the hurry and scurry that typically takes over my mind this time of year.

Calm and peace aren’t always my reality.

As I was thinking and decorating, I heard these noises. John tells me I’m the most oblivious person he knows. I prefer to think of it as trusting. My wise granddaughter was with me, and I turned to her and asked what she thought was going on. “Oh, they’re probably on the roof getting toys down. You know how the kids throw things up there.”

I bought it.

I went back to my pondering and preparation, hearing the thuds but not thinking anything else of it.

John came home, saw my phone, and commented, “You have a text message.”

I’m not always looking at my phone so it didn’t surprise me that I missed something. It was a picture of a house with lights all across the roof. “Nice job. It really makes the house pop.”

“Come outside,” he said.

I followed him outside to find that it was our house, and our son-in-law and grandson had strung lights along the roofline of the house.

This is no small deal; they’d bought and put them all up. Ramsay told us he’d almost fallen off the roof because it had begun to rain and had gotten slippery. Teagan had been on the roof and had slipped many times. Those were the thumps and thuds. We’d never had lights like this before. We’d done some in the past, but never on the top of the second floor.

The light was spectacular.

There’s a significant difference between light and darkness. We do most of our work in the light because we see more clearly and move with clarity. It’s easier to recognize people in the light because who they are isn’t hidden from us.

Jesus wanted people to understand that He was the Light sent from God to help us find our way through a world full of darkness that comes from hidden agendas, hurtful intent, and divisive attitudes and actions.

“Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, ‘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.’” John 8:12

Light has always been associated with life; darkness with sadness, evil, and death. What Jesus offers is the chance to see hope and to live purposefully with a guaranteed future in heaven.

It cost Jesus to be our Light.

Ramsay and Teagan risked the possibility of falling to create a beautiful light display for us, cognizant of potential failure. They persisted, and the display is beautiful.

Jesus embraced the cost of bringing His light to the world–it cost Him His life. But He persisted.

When we walk in the light, we see more than the misery and pain around us.

We see the hope that is to come.

That’s the anticipation I can live with.