What should we do when the lights go out.
What do we do when the lights come down.
How do we feel when the lights go dim and dark and out and up and away.
When all the bright and all the light are stored and boxed and put up high, out of arms reach. Tucked and stored. Out of sight. And suddenly so suddenly the twinkles are no more. And the normal new normal is back to dim and duller, in the rooms in all the rooms where we move and live and have our being.
And plain seems to reign and dulller rules and all the exteriors are undressed and no longer wearing their Sunday best. The music fades, the carols quiet, and still covers the nights of the bleak mid-winter.
So what should we do when the lights go out and up and are put away. And we grieve the change or we celebrate, our unique spirits reign during the days on all the days of shifting gears and changing lanes and traveling back down the roads of living before we stopped and prepared our hearts for the holy celebration. Prepared Him room in all the light and bright.
Oh, what do all the souls of all the saints do and say as all the lights are dimmed at once.
Don’t we each see through lens with unique eyes on all the dark. Frame the change as only I can frame and you can frame and we can frame the change, when all the lights come down.
As boxes take the baby Jesus back to tissue wrap and all the scenes of Hope and Glory and Redemption go back gently in their box, we all take time to grieve the change. Take it tender, take it slow.
And say goodbye or say hello.
And weep with tears of Joy or tears of pain. And look back with that keen hindsight on all the days to all the days of the year that is and almost was.
But what if when the decorations and decor and garland ribbons bows and such come down we see more clearly, all the bones of life. With all the fluff and stuff removed, or some of it at least.
And trim back ornamental accoutrement to just the what we usually have.
And dim the lights, it’s sweet that way. And turn the dial that dims the lights to see just you and see just me right straight in the eyes, of the soul, of all the ones that gather round a life. And see He is right there He always was, when all the lights go out.
When all the candy has come and gone and all the presents are received and thanks are sweetly given. And simple rules again in the hearts of men, what will we do what should we do when all the lights go out.
WIthout the cords and bulbs and lights, without the trim and trees and wreaths.
Its you, its me, its family.
And in all the dark and dim and dull, the hurting and the weak still stand. The lonely, sick and so afraid, still look for light to shine on them.
So when the lights go out and down and up, let’s be and shine and show and love with all the Light from Love Come Down, At Christmas.
In all the dark, in all the days of all the year for all the world to see.
Paint with brush strokes the flames of Hope and Mercy bright and glowing.
Where death and pain and hurt and dark are seeking His bright love.
Let’s still sing loud and soft and sweet, let’s still tell Truth and tell it tender, let’s still Love and Be the People Bearing Light.
And lets stand, huddle, rest not move, in the shadow of His perfect light and love.
Stand with me, rest with me, linger long and slow. Let’s stand together, touching always the hem of His garment of perfect love. There in the light, in the heavenly light.
Dim the lights of the world all you want, for in Him there is no darkness at all.
In Him there is no darkness at all. And the broken Hallelujahs and the always Alleluias sing loud and clear in the light, in the bright light. In the forever light.
Merry The Days After Christmas…. remembering always the Light and The Hope of Glory in Him.
There is not a trace of darkness in Him – 1 John 1:5
elizabeth w. marshall 