Advent Devotional Day 20: A Light for the Journey

December 20:

B.C. verse: Matthew 2: 1-2

A.D. verse: Psalm 43:3; Romans 13:12

Christmas hymn: “We Three Kings”

Hymn for today: “The Light in Me” by Brandon Heath

“Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say
What was this forest savage, rough, and stern,
Which in the very thought renews the fear.

I cannot well repeat how there I entered,¹⁰
So full was I of slumber at the moment
In which I had abandoned the true way.”

In my College-Prep Communications class, we sample portions of Dante’s Inferno, and the above excerpt is from Canto I as Dante begins his journey to hell. The basic paraphrase is that somewhere around the midpoint of his life, Dante finds himself lost in a dark, cold, miserable wood, often referred to as the Dark Wood of Worldliness or Error. It must have been a miserable experience because he tells us that the very thought of the place “renews the fear.” In the final stanza, he confesses that he does not know how he ended up in the wood; the slumber to which he refers is a confession that moral laxity or inattention caused him to lose way and get lost.

The good news is that he can see a light in the distance at the top of a mountain, and he wants to get there. The bad news is that it’s one heck of a climb to get there, he is having trouble along the way, and as we find out as we continue to read the poem, there are obstacles to prevent him from reaching his goal.

Since Dante is lost in a dark wood, my students and I dissect the archetypes, darkness and light. Darkness, they concluded yesterday, represents evil, confusion, despair, and hopelessness. By the end of the discussion, the students conclude what scholars already know to be true: Dante’s dark wood is depression.  

In short, Dante is having a midlife crisis and is depressed. Even though it was written in the 14^th century, Dante’s depressive symptoms of hopelessness, misery, and defeat are all too familiar to the reader of the 21^st century.

Like Dante, the Israelites had been wandering in a dark wood (or world) of error for 400 years. Moral laxity had been their downfall as well. The light, or hope, was the promised Savior, so they were seeking a path out of the dark wood in the form of the signs that had been prophesied. The Magi, a group of Biblical scholars, were among them, and once they saw the star that had been foretold, they were on the move.

 “About that time, some wise men from the eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking ‘Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We saw his star in the east, and we have come to worship him’” (Matthew 2:1-2). According to what I read, it is possible that a posse (not just three) of Magi traveled something like 800-900 miles in order to see Christ. Likewise, the fact that they were following a star from the east has its own symbolic significance. In literature, the east – where the sun rises – often is associated with birth and new life. In this case, both apply with regard to Christ’s birth.

No matter if you are the Israelites, the Magi, Dante, someone who is middle-aged and/or depressed, or the person reading this screen, light = hope and life. Modern-day Magi (wise men and women) still seek and follow the light. “Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live” (Psalm 43:3). Like the Magi’s journey, our journey toward the light may be lengthy and will require an all-in mentality, but even in its most arduous moments, it’s better than the alternative every day of the week.

In order to be prepared for the big moment, the Magi read and re-read Scripture and watched for the signs. It sounds like good as advice for us, too, for a couple of reasons. First, reading Scripture and keeping our eyes on the light are ways to avoid getting sucked into darkness. Our eyes can only focus on one thing at a time: light or darkness. Which one will it be? Secondly, reading Scripture helps us to prepare and watch for signs as we await the return trip, rather than the birth, of the Savior. “The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living” (Romans 13:12).

“You are the hope that leads me out of the dark
You let Your love shine down
So that the world could see
You put the light in me”

-from “The Light in Me” by Brandon Heath

Daily Challenge: Pick up trash today; put recyclable items into the proper containers.