You Belong

When I set out on this Impossible Light project, I was fascinated by the beautiful image of light overcoming the darkness and the celebration of Christmas situated in the bleakest time of the year. I thought this was a story of light being greater than darkness, a story only about hope coming from a triumphant entry of the Lord.

It is. Certainly. And…

It’s a story about belonging. At the core of the story is a statement about how humanity and all of creation matters to God and matters to one another. At the center of Christ’s birth narrative, we see that God becomes one of us.

Concepts of light and dark, hope and impossibility, can all be a bit abstract. They can seem removed from our human experience, from the struggles we actually face as we go through our days. That is why it is important to remember the central truth of this whole story of waiting — God becomes one of us, fleshy, frail, beautiful, and sweet — a baby, a vulnerable human being. In this, God tells us that God is with us and we belong to God.

In these next couple of days, through all the joy and stress and food and presents and carols and TV specials and football and church services and candles and tears and phone calls to loved ones and moments of silence and wondrous, humbling, God-saturated presence of Christmas…my prayer would be you remember you belong.

You belong to the God of the impossible.
You belong to the God of hope.
You belong to the God of light.
You belong to the God of darkness.
You belong to the God who became one of us because we mattered and still do matter. Because we are created, liberated, chosen, called, loved.

Amen. Grace and peace,

Seth

What’s next?
There is more in store beyond Advent for Impossible Light. Find out more here.