The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
Isaiah 9:2 NIV
Those Walking In Darkness
Data suggests last winter was the darkest in the province in more than 80 years. While southern Ontario as a whole saw the least sunlight, the Thunder Bay area wasn’t far behind, according to data compiled by Brian Brettschneider, climate scientist with the United States National Weather Service in Alaska. Brettschneider said the Great Lakes themselves were largely open and unfrozen over the winter, providing a source of moisture to help cloud development in the area.
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As we look at our world today, it does seem so dark, spiritually. We imagine things could never have been as bad as they are now. The reality is that the world has always been spiritually dark, ever since the light went out in the Garden of Eden when sin entered into the human heart and the entire universe suffered. The reasons the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures were called to preach a message of repentance was because of the darkness of the world. In some cases, they were the only light shining in a very dark world. The prophet Isaiah was given a unique peek into a day when a much brighter light would shine into the world, and he records this in Isaiah 9:2: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Today is the first day of Advent. It has been called the Season of Light, which is ironic considering that here in Canada the hours of sunlight are so few. But we prepare for Jesus’ birth – the Light coming into a dark world.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley