From Deepest Darkness there Came Great Light

From Deepest Darkness there Came Great Light

It matters where the light falls

A manger is a trough from which horses and cattle are fed. Once a manger was padded with hay that a baby might rest upon it and the world be fed. Gentle hands laid him to rest upon a bed of straw and a great light from deepest darkness fell upon him.

They did not know that it matters where the light falls, that if it falls upon a heart so open, it will find there not just a home, but a mirror to reflect it back. When they looked upon him they saw the great light shining back through his heart, his smile, his touch, his words. But it matters where the light falls. For some, the reflected light from deepest darkness warmed and illuminated them and they felt great and abiding joy. For others the light was blinding, and they could not look directly at it. They feared it because they knew that to look at the sun could do great harm. They didn’t know that this son meant them no harm.

It matters where the light falls. Some saw the light from afar and knew it was a beacon that could guide them. They let the light fall upon their hearts and found it would lead them across vast expanses and bring them at last to the source of the light. And so it did. It brought them to a tiny manger from which they were fed, one small heart reflecting the light for all to see. For that is what he was from the moment he was laid in the manger, simply a reflector of the great light from deepest darkness.

It matters where the light falls. If it falls upon the doors of an inn that are closed, the light will warm and illuminate only the door, not able to enter across the threshold.

That night long ago, it fell upon a stable whose doors were swung wide and whose creatures were welcoming. That night it found an open manger, a receptive place, for the light to be laid with gentleness upon a soft bed created with love. That night the great light that sprung from deepest darkness came to rest upon the heart of a child. His heart, which was so great in one so small, welcomed the light and there was immeasurable joy.

His heart shone forth with the light. His heart was the light. His heart is each heart.

The great light from deepest darkness ever shines and ever touches all, it matters only whether it falls upon a closed door or upon a place with doors open and a manger waiting where the light can rest and feed all.

Lynda Allen

December 17, 2011

From Deepest Darkness There Came Great Light

A Christmas story that came to me two years ago. I share it with wishes for your life to be illuminated with light and love this holiday season and every day.

 

From deepest darkness there came great light.

It matters where the light falls

A manger is a trough from which horses and cattle are fed. Once a manger was padded with hay that a baby might rest upon it and the world be fed. Gentle hands laid him to rest upon a bed of straw and a great light from deepest darkness fell upon him.

They did not know that it matters where the light falls, that if it falls upon a heart so open, it will find there not just a home, but a mirror to reflect it back. When they looked upon him they saw the great light shining back through his heart, his smile, his touch, his words. But it matters where the light falls. For some, the reflected light from deepest darkness warmed and illuminated them and they felt great and abiding joy. For others the light was blinding, and they could not look directly at it. They feared it because they knew that to look at the sun could do great harm. They didn’t know that this son meant them no harm.

It matters where the light falls. Some saw the light from afar and knew it was a beacon that could guide them. They let the light fall upon their hearts and found it would lead them across vast expanses and bring them at last to the source of the light. And so it did. It brought them to a tiny manger from which they were fed, one small heart reflecting the light for all to see. For that is what he was from the moment he was laid in the manger, simply a reflector of the great light from deepest darkness.

It matters where the light falls. If it falls upon the doors of an inn that are closed, the light will warm and illuminate only the door, not able to enter across the threshold.

That night long ago, it fell upon a stable whose doors were swung wide and whose creatures were welcoming. That night it found an open manger, a receptive place, for the light to be laid with gentleness upon a soft bed created with love. That night the great light that sprung from deepest darkness came to rest upon the heart of a child. His heart, which was so great in one so small, welcomed the light and there was immeasurable joy.

His heart shone forth with the light. His heart was the light. His heart is each heart.

The great light from deepest darkness ever shines and ever touches all, it matters only whether it falls upon a closed door or upon a place with doors open and a manger waiting where the light can rest and feed all.

Lynda Allen

December 17, 2011

A Stocking Hung by the Chimney with Care

In my family we celebrate Christmas. For me it is a time to celebrate not just the birth of Jesus and his bright light, but also the light in each heart and the returning of the physical light as well. There are many holidays this time of year and each seems to include a remembering of the light.

This year, Christmas may be less of a celebration in a small town in Connecticut. That thought has been weighing heavy on my heart. I want so much to be able to wrap my arms around the whole town and comfort them in their time of grief. I want so much, like so many others, to find a way to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.

So I have been looking at the idea of Christmas and the people of Newtown and wondering what gift I could genuinely offer them. How could I find a way to really give them that hug that I so long to offer? How can I genuinely wrap them in the love that I feel?

I thought of two options. One is to learn to make origami hearts and to teach the children at our church and schools to make them. Together we can make many hearts and send them to Sandy Hook Elementary to make sure they know and feel the love that surrounds them, that is flowing to them from so many hearts that ache along with theirs. (If you want to make them too there are lots of instructions online. On this page is a list of different origami hearts – the easiest one is called Easy Heart, http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-hearts.html)

The other thing I will do is hang an extra stocking. In the poem, T’was the Night Before Christmas, the phrase says, “The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.” I thought, what if it meant that the stockings were filled with caring? What if I can demonstrate my caring by filling the stocking with love, with all the things that will be needed for us to heal and create a society where this terrible moment won’t happen again, where we won’t have to have our hearts collectively break? In that Spirit, in the Spirit of light that is Christmas for me, I will hang an extra stocking with care this year. I will fill it with compassion, love, light, tolerance, understanding, goodwill and grace. I will add more things as I feel inspired. If I don’t have an object that represents these things I will simply write them on a piece of paper and add them to the stocking.

I will stuff that stocking with whatever is necessary for us to talk together in peace and light, for us to live together in grace, for us to love together in tolerance, for us to heal together in love, for us to honor those lights we have lost, in Newtown, in Aurora, in Wisconsin and around the world. A stocking filled with care in order to help create a world where each light is honored and revered. A world where those whose lights are dimmed by fear or anger or hatred or mental illness can again be surrounded by enough love and light to be able to find their way back to and be guided by love and to the help that they need.

So this year a stocking will indeed be hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that a world built on love soon would be there.

From Deepest Darkness there Came Great Light

I wrote this last year around this time. It feels like it is time to share it again. It is a gift of light for the holidays.  

I wish you light and abiding peace and love,

Lynda

From deepest darkness there came great light.

It matters where the light falls

A manger is a trough from which horses and cattle are fed. Once a manger was padded with hay that a baby might rest upon it and the world be fed. Gentle hands laid him to rest upon a bed of straw and a great light from deepest darkness fell upon him.

They did not know that it matters where the light falls, that if it falls upon a heart so open, it will find there not just a home, but a mirror to reflect it back. When they looked upon him they saw the great light shining back through his heart, his smile, his touch, his words. But it matters where the light falls. For some, the reflected light from deepest darkness warmed and illuminated them and they felt great and abiding joy. For others the light was blinding, and they could not look directly at it. They feared it because they knew that to look at the sun could do great harm. They didn’t know that this son meant them no harm.

It matters where the light falls. Some saw the light from afar and knew it was a beacon that could guide them. They let the light fall upon their hearts and found it would lead them across vast expanses and bring them at last to the source of the light. And so it did. It brought them to a tiny manger from which they were fed, one small heart reflecting the light for all to see. For that is what he was from the moment he was laid in the manger, simply a reflector of the great light from deepest darkness.

It matters where the light falls. If it falls upon the doors of an inn that are closed, the light will warm and illuminate only the door, not able to enter across the threshold.

That night long ago, it fell upon a stable whose doors were swung wide and whose creatures were welcoming. That night it found an open manger, a receptive place, for the light to be laid with gentleness upon a soft bed created with love. That night the great light that sprung from deepest darkness came to rest upon the heart of a child. His heart, which was so great in one so small, welcomed the light and there was immeasurable joy.

His heart shone forth with the light. His heart was the light. His heart is each heart.

The great light from deepest darkness ever shines and ever touches all, it matters only whether it falls upon a closed door or upon a place with doors open and a manger waiting where the light can rest and feed all.

 

Lynda Allen

Pledge of Peace and Love ~ Day 72 Christmas Eve ~ The Light Within

On Thursday on the Solstice, I rejoiced in the return of the physical light. Tonight I rejoice in the return of the light of Spirit. For me Christmas is an opportunity each year to not only celebrate the birth of Jesus, but also to celebrate that same light in each of us that shone so brightly in him. It is an opportunity to allow that light to shine with nothing covering it, nothing dimming its brilliance.

For me it is a time of deep gratitude for the remembering that we each have a spark of divinity within us. I rejoice in seeing it in others and I rejoice in remembering it within myself. There is such joy in connecting with that light, sitting with that light and allowing it to warm me and radiate from me. I believe that each choice I make from Love and Peace fans that flame within me and makes it leap ever higher.

I think there is another reason that Christmas helps us remember that light within ourselves; children. A birth of a great light is celebrated on Christmas day and through the joy we see in children’s eyes we see reflected the light born within each heart. Babies and children are closer to their joy that most adults. Whether they are consciously aware of it or not, they seem to be more connected to Spirit than most adults. I think we are working toward a time when that shifts (hooray!), but I think that is part of what helps adults remember the light at Christmas – we see it all around us reflected in the images of the newborn babe and on the faces of the children in our lives. What a joy it is to see that pure light shining forth and what a joy it is to feel it flicker within me in response.

The remembering of the light within is a gift I hope each heart receives no matter what you celebrate this time of year.

I think it’s perfect that tonight on Christmas Eve it will be a new moon. All the better for each of our stars to shine brightly forth in celebration! Merry Christmas!