advent SERIES 2025

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined. Isaiah 9:2

Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord. Isaiah 2: 5

Lightness and darkness

Global issues and the advent story seem to press upon us narratives around light and dark, about opposition and suppression, and the hope of a new dawn.

The great silence between the Old and New Testaments precedes the advent, the coming of Jesus. Into this vacuum, through dreams and appearances, Mary and Joseph are invited to walk in darkness and in light, receiving guidance and illumination in the midst of uncertainty and perplexity. Shepherds watch their flocks by night and are then dazzled by the light of a horde of angels. Herod feels threatened and strikes hard.

And us? We, in the winter months, wake up to the dark. We note the changes in light, the reality of darkness and sadness perhaps at the light’s decline. There’s an inclination towards caution and the entry of fear perhaps. A form of natural hibernation is offered or suggested, and a more physically visceral experience of life erupts - through wind, rain and cold felt on and in skin.

Waiting in hope for peace

Peace, and hope, may be heralded by light. Peace seems important, a place to aspire for. He will shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace (Luke 1:79). Peace is clearly not just the cessation of conflict, threat and violence which assail our news but the experience of rest, security and the prospect, for all, of walking freely, bathed in light.

Waiting is palpable, the backdrop to the Christmas story. The stature and quality of waiting is a recurring theme in the spiritual life, a necessary nod and welcome to the dark, the uncertain, the apophatic, and the mystery of God. The darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. Psalm 113:12. To wait, to sit, is to make friends with all the accompanying energies and worthies of passivity, receptivity, patience and emptiness. 

We then, like the Advent characters, wait for an approach, from one ‘who spoke through the prophets/the one who astounded Mary/by suddenly coming near’ (The Bat, Jane Kenyon).

Andrew Hook