Scripture Reading
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” — John 1:5
Black — The Hidden Light
The first COVID-19 Advent season in 2020 was unlike any we had known. During Advent we gathered in a sanctuary with masks in place and a socially distanced choir. Looking back, those days of altered worship seem surreal. I also recall how good it felt to step outside for our Advent Inspiration event that season, as we walked a winding path through outdoor stations pointing us to a grace that the pandemic could not hold back.
Those stations became our way of seeking God’s hidden light that had not disappeared but was simply buried beneath the black night of the pandemic. In the darkness of those days, we discovered a truth we might never have known otherwise: that faith does not depend on ease or proximity but on persistence, on doing what is necessary to keep fellowship alive. The blackness of Advent was not void; it was womb-like, holding the quiet work of grace we could not yet see.
God’s hidden light compelled us toward one another even when every instinct urged us to stay apart. It whispered that the gathered church of God endures not in spite of separation, but through it. In every masked greeting and careful act of care, light was germinating in the midst of our family of faith.
– Bart McNiel
Prayer
O God who is not overcome by darkness, when the world feels dark and uncertain, teach us to trust that You are never absent. Remind us that the hidden light still burns beneath the surface of life’s troubles, waiting to be born among us. Amen.
For Reflection
When have you experienced a season where God’s presence seemed hidden, and yet, in hindsight, you realized the light was quietly at work beneath the surface? What “hidden light” might be waiting to emerge in your life or in your community today?