In preparation for Christmas, we lighted four candles to get us ready for the coming of Jesus. Each candle represented four virtues that Jesus brought and taught to us.
The first candle is the candle of Hope. Christ is the light shining in the darkness. He is the light for us to see the way to the Father. And just as He was our light, He invites us to be a light to others, specially those lost in darkness. In spite of the dark and our being lost. we live in hope because we have Christ, the Light. All the stars and lights and Christmas trimmings we put up remind us of this fact.
The second candle is the candle of Love. Every child that is born is witness to the power of love. This takes on added meaning at Christmas because God, who is Love, takes on our human form. Facebook was aglow with love this season. With friends and families exchanging love-notes and love-wishes in their posts. It was a busy time on Facebook.
The third candle is the candle of Joy. The Savior is almost here and will soon live among us. Alongside the Christmas greetings online, there were also numerous posts of joyful families and friends celebrating Christmas. It is the happiest season of all, when everyone wants to share love, joy and blessings with all those around.
And now as the Christmas season is coming to a close, I think of the fourth candle, the candle of Peace. Now is the time to incarnate in our lives the promise and hope and love and joy of Christmas.
I borrow the words of Howard Thurman, an African-American theologian, educator, and civil rights leader:
When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.
And indeed, if there is one more candle to light for this Christmas season, it would be the candle of Peace.