Light in the darkness

Today's Gospel reading at the church was about John the Baptist who came "to testify to the Light" and it got me thinking about these dark days.

The colour palette of the Fens at this time of year is very muted - the fields are green, where the winter wheat is coming through like grass on the great acreages, the sky is often grey and over cast and the skies are so huge here that that takes up most of the scene!  Then there is brown - the hedgerows, the mud on the roads and splattered on the verges and all over our cars...we have a lot of brown at this time of year.

We have another week to go before we achieve the shortest day and then the days slowly begin to lengthen again - and how we look forward to the lighter nights and brighter days.  The mood at this time of year can also be quite dark, as people struggle with lack. Lack of light makes people sad; lack of money affects lots of us in all kinds of ways; lack of family and friends around us makes us feel lonely. Any lack of any kind can really have an impact on the way we feel and then on the way we treat others.

Is it any wonder that we light up our homes with sparkly lights at this time of year as we look for some brightness in this dull world?  The truth is that we need the Light that is Jesus Christ all year round.  

Linking today with Ang at Tracing Rainbows for the Pause in Advent series.

(image from angalmond.blogspot.co.uk)