Light on a Tree
By Anthony Casperson
12-10-22

Lights abound this season. On wire strings. In fireplaces. From the everyday bulbs because night comes earlier and earlier. All pouring between the slits of our windows’ blinds.

And centerpiece to many homes’ lights this season is the Christmas tree. Embers of brilliance that have a long history in association with the holiday. Before electricity was a common thing surging into people’s homes, there were still lights on the seasonal evergreens. Tiny candles that rose as reminders of the Light of the world that was hung on a very different kind of tree, whose birth the season celebrates.

As my mind recently considered this candle light, I began to think about the welcome emanating from a simple single candle. It’s not the rainbow of colors that other lights can be. Not the showy twinkle that sometimes flash in rhythm with a melody. And certainly not the scents that we’ve added to many modern candles.

But rather, the miniscule flame with its teardrop shape dancing in the darkness. Light that calls us near so that we can see the truth of our surroundings. Heat that shares its warmth with those who leave the lonely cold of the world behind. It draws our attention when everything else is dark and terrible mystery.

Yet it is also perilous when approached. One simple flame can turn the world to cinders. Burn everything down. And leave those who carelessly approach it with marks that last a lifetime.

Welcomingly beautiful, yet powerfully dangerous.

Few other images can describe the Creator of the universe so well. Especially as we flail in the darkness for something more than our loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Something to welcome the unloved. To be a tender embrace amidst our tears. And a call to truth when the world around us is nothing but deadly lies.

This is the Light of the world. The One who entered our planet on a dark and lonely night in a stable. Who saved us by dying on a cross. Who bestows upon us his holiness, lest we be burned up in his presence because of our sin.

As we witness light upon light this season, let’s not be too caught up in the spectacle—or so tired of the pageantry—that we forget the true Light of the world.

The best and brightest light to ever hang on a tree.