Believe it or not, I am not writing about the ‘new star’ that appeared on the 21st of December this year. A big reason for that is I did not go out and look at the star. I know, lame, but I just got busy with other things like…I don’t know, dishes or something, and I didn’t go. I knew other people would go and see and post pictures on social media so I would still see it. Part of me wishes I had gone out and looked, but what’s done is done.

I think it is cool that the world was given a new star during the Christmas season. It seemed like a great reminder of that new star that came long ago when the Christ child was born. In spite of being too lazy to walk out my front door and point my eyes up into the night sky, I have been thinking about light.

I took Baby G around to look at the Christmas lights last week. We ran an errand and decided to just drive around afterward. We have a lot of really creative neighbors that must have watched Christmas Vacation in their youth. In fact, I actually saw one of those inflatables in the shape of the van from the movie that said Christmas Vacation on the side. Sadly, no one had an inflatable leg lamp from A Christmas Story. (not actually sad)

As Baby G and I drove around, I heard her oohing and aahing and giggling in delight at the lights she saw. There really is something magical about young and innocent joy. She got nothing tangible out of seeing lights, but she felt the wonder and awe of it all. I couldn’t help but start to really feel the Christmas spirit as I listened to her.

As I started to feel that warm ‘Christmasy’ feeling, I wondered why something as simple as Christmas lights would have any effect on me. Sure, it was the lights mixed with the sweet giggles from the back seat, but it was something more. I looked at all the different lights set up in so many different ways and it made sense.

Jesus was born to bring light to the world. He even told us he was the “light of the world”. He brought light that increased our understanding, our love, and our world. Today, in celebration of his birth, people all over add light to the inside and outside of their houses. Jesus was pure light. I would imagine him as the clear lights we use at times. When I looked around, I saw lights in all different colors from clear to red, green, purple, even blue. It made me think about how different we all are. We have all been given the light of Christ. It is inside us all, sometimes hidden and sometimes burning bright. We all shine in our own way. Some of us may shine blue, others may shine green. No matter what color we shine, we can all add to the light of the world. We can all brighten the darkness with our words, deeds, and kindness.

Putting up Christmas lights might seem like something we just do. It might be a competition with our neighbors, it might be to mark our houses for the out of town relatives to find us. There are many reasons why we add light to the darkness. I didn’t put up lights at my house. I have one little light up sign that says “Merry Christmas” on it. I found it in my shed and that’s what I could do this year. Sometimes we can’t do much. Sometimes we can outshine the street lights. We do what we can, we let our lights shine, and we add just a bit of brightness to the world.

I love Christmas and the light it brings to the world, especially that first Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone,

Cause I said so.

Photo credit: Chinabrands.com