Fire and Light in Advent
Picture by David Russell Mosley
Dear Friends,
Well, the first week of Advent has come and gone and now it's time to light the second candle. Like most people, I have something of an obsession with fire. Candles, torches, fire pits, and fireplaces have all held a special place in my imaginative world.
We moved to Spokane, WA back in July and for the first time since I was a boy, my home has a working fireplace. Needless to say, I've had nearly a dozen fires in it since Autumn began. There's something about the warmth emanating from the hearth that I find so very comforting. Of course, fire is one of those elements that transformed us from bipedal primates to human beings. Fire meant safety at night, light in the darkness, but it also meant the ability to cook. In a few weeks, I'll have an article out with Christian Century, where I talk about cooking, feasting, and out humanity. But for today, I want to talk about a different aspect of fire: the light.
I have an astigmatism in both eyes. What this means is that instead of coming in the way it should, when light hits my retinas, it refracts. At its most annoying, it means that I can't see anything clearly without my glasses on. However, something rather beautiful happens when I look at a flame. A candle at a good distance is usually perfect. The flame grows, and takes on a vertical almond or yonic shape. It feels as though I'm seeing something deeper, something more true about the light, about reality, when I look without my glasses on. I wrote a poem about this once which you can find here at Macrina Magazine.
Advent is like that, I think. It is a time in the darkness where, as the sun sets earlier and rises later every day, a different Light, a truer Light, begins to grow brighter. Advent allows us to see reality through the lens of waiting, waiting for the coming Light of the World who will dispel all the darkness. Recently, I showed the film The Secret of Kells to my upperclassmen Bible class. I love Tomm Moore's artistic style. But I also love how the film constantly emphasizes that this book which Br. Aidan has brought with him from Iona is the book which will turn darkness into light, especially the Chi-Rho page when it is done. The movie never specifies what the book is, but we know it is an illuminated copy of the Gospels, of the life of Christ who is true Light from true Light.
So this Advent, burn your candles, have a fire, bring light into the darkness in whatever way you can. For the darkness cannot overcome the Light.
Sincerely,
David Russell Mosley
This first appeared as part of my weekly newsletter, Letters from the Edge of Elfland.
