The Gift of Light for a Dark Christmas!
Did you know that darkness hides from the light? Albert Einstein went so far as to say that, “There is no such thing as darkness, only absence of light…” How true!! Often people had lived with a dark attitude until their whole life seems surrounded with the negative force from the dark side of life…
As I walked around the hospital last night, I saw many faces that are darkened by the situation that they are confronted with right now…Many will never go home again, many will leave there and be taken to a nursing home to spend the remainder of their lives…others will go home, but only to the same dark gloomy place that made them sick in the first place…
The hospital beds are full of people who are lost with what, seems to them, to be no hope… and I know personally, the depression that these people feel…I can remember how I felt when I was laying in one of those beds, facing sickness, facing tears, facing pain, and looking for relief…My relief came in the hope I have in Jesus Christ…I was still sick, pain was often overwhelming, the depression of being in that hospital bed was real, but above and beyond it all, my faith and hope in the God of light, helped me get over all that darkness…That sickness that I experienced, encouraged me to do my best to work with Christ and be a part in someone’s life of light…How can that be done? By bringing light into the darkness, because light dispels darkness!
THE DARK SIDE!
There is a darker side of Christmas that we rarely acknowledge…We create this fantasy to the perfect homecoming that rarely matches reality—even in the best of homes…There are many of us whose Christmas memories are full of tension, not tinsel…
I witnessed in a fast food restaurant the other day a different kind of darkness, than that which is experienced in a hospital…a beautiful little girl all dressed in pink, (she was somewhere around 5 or 6,) was celebrating an early Christmas with her real life mother…Her presents are spread out over the table in the booth and, listen, she just said, “I miss you mommy.” “I miss you too,” her mother says…
As I looked around, it was very real what was taking place…sitting across from this little girl and her mom, was another lady, which I took for a social worker or something like that…She was watching the little girl like a hawk…She was making sure that nothing negative took place…from a distance she is supervising a structured visit for mother and child…who are doing the best they can to celebrate Christmas in the booth of this fast food restaurant…This is another kind of darkness that has drifted its way into the lives of many people…
Some of us know that the holidays are just another excuse for mommy or daddy to get drunk or get high on their drug of choice…or maybe the daddy is gone now and spending Christmas with his new family…
The holidays to some are just a harsh reminder that the one they love is far, far from home defending their countries freedom…and perhaps, they will never come home again…
Did you know that the suicide rate is extraordinarily high in December, and that depression is as common as joy to the world? I believe there are far more people who hurt at Christmas than we could ever imagine…they find misery in the things that we find joy in…they find sadness in the things that we rejoice in…they find hate where we find love…they live in darkness because…because…life is full of darkness…
What can you and I do to help?
We can be a light bearer for Christ! We can take light into the darkness of the hearts that are wrapped in shadows…We can bring a smile into a place of sorrow…We can give and not take…We can love and not hate…We can hug and not push! No matter what we may think of a person, we can do our best to make them feel needed and special…We can offer an encouraging word in place of a negative one…We can offer the handshake of friendship and comradeship…
Often it does not take much to lift the spirits of a person who is down…Just a kind word or maybe a little prayer…don’t worry, you will know if a person wants prayer…don’t be bashful, your Lord has all power and he will give you what you need to do His work for Him…
The other day while in the little chapel at the hospital, I encountered a young lady sitting in one of the chairs weeping as she held the chapel bible in her lap…she was worried about finances for Christmas…she was a basket case…she was a nurse who works at the hospital…The sick people in the rooms are not the only ones who need an encouraging word…
I talked to her the same way that I feel Christ would have, and then I prayed for her…I left her sitting there with tears running down her face but then those tears were flowing down a face with a hopeful smile shinning into the new light of the moment…A few days later I ran into her in the hall and she was joyful and optimistic…She said all was better now and she thanked me over and over for her new found hope…Praise God…
If you want to help someone this season, then just go to your local hospital and visit somebody…you don’t have to know them personally…just go and offer love…remember, compassion is love in action…
As I walked around the hospital last night, I saw many faces that are darkened by the situation that they are confronted with right now…Many will never go home again, many will leave there and be taken to a nursing home to spend the remainder of their lives…others will go home, but only to the same dark gloomy place that made them sick in the first place…
The hospital beds are full of people who are lost with what, seems to them, to be no hope… and I know personally, the depression that these people feel…I can remember how I felt when I was laying in one of those beds, facing sickness, facing tears, facing pain, and looking for relief…My relief came in the hope I have in Jesus Christ…I was still sick, pain was often overwhelming, the depression of being in that hospital bed was real, but above and beyond it all, my faith and hope in the God of light, helped me get over all that darkness…That sickness that I experienced, encouraged me to do my best to work with Christ and be a part in someone’s life of light…How can that be done? By bringing light into the darkness, because light dispels darkness!
THE DARK SIDE!
There is a darker side of Christmas that we rarely acknowledge…We create this fantasy to the perfect homecoming that rarely matches reality—even in the best of homes…There are many of us whose Christmas memories are full of tension, not tinsel…
I witnessed in a fast food restaurant the other day a different kind of darkness, than that which is experienced in a hospital…a beautiful little girl all dressed in pink, (she was somewhere around 5 or 6,) was celebrating an early Christmas with her real life mother…Her presents are spread out over the table in the booth and, listen, she just said, “I miss you mommy.” “I miss you too,” her mother says…
As I looked around, it was very real what was taking place…sitting across from this little girl and her mom, was another lady, which I took for a social worker or something like that…She was watching the little girl like a hawk…She was making sure that nothing negative took place…from a distance she is supervising a structured visit for mother and child…who are doing the best they can to celebrate Christmas in the booth of this fast food restaurant…This is another kind of darkness that has drifted its way into the lives of many people…
Some of us know that the holidays are just another excuse for mommy or daddy to get drunk or get high on their drug of choice…or maybe the daddy is gone now and spending Christmas with his new family…
The holidays to some are just a harsh reminder that the one they love is far, far from home defending their countries freedom…and perhaps, they will never come home again…
Did you know that the suicide rate is extraordinarily high in December, and that depression is as common as joy to the world? I believe there are far more people who hurt at Christmas than we could ever imagine…they find misery in the things that we find joy in…they find sadness in the things that we rejoice in…they find hate where we find love…they live in darkness because…because…life is full of darkness…
What can you and I do to help?
We can be a light bearer for Christ! We can take light into the darkness of the hearts that are wrapped in shadows…We can bring a smile into a place of sorrow…We can give and not take…We can love and not hate…We can hug and not push! No matter what we may think of a person, we can do our best to make them feel needed and special…We can offer an encouraging word in place of a negative one…We can offer the handshake of friendship and comradeship…
Often it does not take much to lift the spirits of a person who is down…Just a kind word or maybe a little prayer…don’t worry, you will know if a person wants prayer…don’t be bashful, your Lord has all power and he will give you what you need to do His work for Him…
The other day while in the little chapel at the hospital, I encountered a young lady sitting in one of the chairs weeping as she held the chapel bible in her lap…she was worried about finances for Christmas…she was a basket case…she was a nurse who works at the hospital…The sick people in the rooms are not the only ones who need an encouraging word…
I talked to her the same way that I feel Christ would have, and then I prayed for her…I left her sitting there with tears running down her face but then those tears were flowing down a face with a hopeful smile shinning into the new light of the moment…A few days later I ran into her in the hall and she was joyful and optimistic…She said all was better now and she thanked me over and over for her new found hope…Praise God…
If you want to help someone this season, then just go to your local hospital and visit somebody…you don’t have to know them personally…just go and offer love…remember, compassion is love in action…
Go to a nursing home and visit…there is no way that you and I can go out and be a blessing to others without getting washed in that same blessing ourselves…the secret of dispelling darkness is being a servant…When we serve others, we bring the light of Christ into their lives…so know, right now that it is the light of Christ shinning though you, that can bring joy and hope into the hearts of all who will receive you in the name of Jesus…
There are no outcast with God, there are no orphans with God…so get up right now and go somewhere a be a light bearer for Christ this Christmas…call someone and let them know you love them…send a card…send a prayer…but most of all go forward in the name of Jesus…Immanuel…God with us…
Blessings and joy…
Robert N. Graves, Sr. Fisherman for Christ
There are no outcast with God, there are no orphans with God…so get up right now and go somewhere a be a light bearer for Christ this Christmas…call someone and let them know you love them…send a card…send a prayer…but most of all go forward in the name of Jesus…Immanuel…God with us…
Blessings and joy…
Robert N. Graves, Sr. Fisherman for Christ
posted by Fisherman For Christ at 12/20/2007 10:57:00 AM
1 Comments:
Bobby, I've missed you lately, I can't seem to find that card of yours I had, it must be around here somewhere. Maybe one of the kids moved it somewhere. Or maybe God is goog enough to keep it hidden from me just long enough to read your blog. I love you Bobby and sure do miss you and your family. As I read your post I couldn't help but to think of that song sang by Haley at church last year. "Take your Candle, Go Light your world." Maybe you could change your song for a few days, if you can remember how:) Anyway Bobby I got a new phone to replace the doo doo phone I had before, I still have the same number as before, so call me as soon as you like.
Jack
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