Scripture: 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.

Thought for the Day: Merry Christmas everyone! Today we celebrate the realization that God is with us, ampoule now and forever. The story of Jesus’ birth symbolizes the birth and rebirth we all go through many, many times in our lives, as we struggle to let go of human ego and let God control us.

A great light dawned on the world 2000 years ago, yet many religions have attempted to steal that light and box it into some sort of human idea of faith and what a relationship with God means. There is no human conception of something as great as God, though. No matter how hard we try, all we will ever understand is the minutest piece of God’s reality. No matter which religion we practice (or even if we aren’t religious), God cannot be contained in the finite spaces of human thought. We have no concept of reality; we only understand the reality around us, which is largely a figment of our imaginations anyway, and by no means the totality of reality.

The truth is that God inhabits absolutely every one of us, and everything there is, from the stars in the cosmos to the infant in the manager, from the dust in the desert to the teenage mother, from the most destitute to the wealthiest. God is with us all, in all our wonderful diversity, like the Christmas lights hanging all over town.

Last night in my Christmas Eve message I suggested we all start to think of those millions of lights everywhere as different aspects of God—the different colors, sizes, and shapes of those lights, all glorious in their own way, all part of the fulfillment of the ultimate light born into the world.

This Christmas, I hope your family celebrations are filled with love and joy, but I also hope that for the world this is yet another step in our journey towards a peaceful, loving, understanding and compassionate planet; a globe one day united in God’s beautiful diversity of color, gender, and religion.

Prayer: May your light continue to work through me, Holy God, molding me into a being of peace, love, compassion, and understanding. Amen.