Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light,
First Sunday of Advent, page 211, BCP
Young people today are exposed to an entertainment world populated by a veritable pantheon of superheroes, about whom I must confess I know absolutely nothing. Truth be told, I grew up aware of only one such character: mild mannered newspaper reporter Clark Kent who would slip into a phone booth, (some of you may have to look up what those were,) whip off his suit, tie, and horn-rimmed glasses and emerge faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound… it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SUPERMAN! Blame it on spending twenty-one months in the weird world of Covid, but that’s what came to mind this year when, for the umpteenth time, I read the collect for the first Sunday of Advent. I can understand you might be tempted to jump to the next page at this point, but hear me out….
Unlike the metal armor of the middle ages, or the body armor worn by modern day military and law enforcement personnel, I believe the armor of light, like Superman’s cape, is meant not to protect but to empower the wearer. This armor after all is granted to us by God’s grace. I believe it is meant to enable us to be a source of light in an emotionally dark world in order to help the world prepare for The Light, Love itself, to be born on Christmas. How we choose to do that will be up to each of us, but imagine what the world would be like if every one of us tried to bring a smile, to brighten the heart, of one other person every day this Advent, and then if even a portion of those people felt inclined to do the same, on and on and on. Preparing for the coming of the Christ Child, as John the Baptist preached, is about turning away from worldly pleasures, and I would add, worldly worries, in order to focus on living more fully as the loving people God calls us to be. Some days that may come easily, while other days it may really feel like work, but either way it’s worth it. After all, as one of my favorite quotes says, “It is a scientific fact that the light cast by the glow of a single burning match can penetrate the darkness of a clear night and be seen for a distance of more than one mile. It is a spiritual truth that the light radiated by the love of one human being can penetrate the darkness of fear and be experienced throughout the universe at a distance that transcends measurement.”
