Who Will Bring Us Goodness and Light Today?

Do you know the Christmas song that begins with these words:

“Said the night wind to the little lamb, do you see what I see?”

That song, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" was born during a time of national crisis. Noël Regney was invited to write a Christmas song during the Cuban Missile crisis in October of 1962. At that time President Kennedy and Fidel Castro were locked in a stalemate over the presence of Soviet missiles on the island of Cuba. The song ends with a call to ”Pray for peace, people everywhere!” We now know that the missiles were eventually removed, but at the time, there was great fear that the Cold War could have erupted into a much more violent hot war.

Some people feel we have been going through another time of national crisis. Many people are living with fear today. For some it is a fear of people who act or think differently. For others it is a fear of abuse by people with power. I think that God wants us to do something about those fears. But simply telling people to not be afraid will be of little comfort without also doing something to address their fears. So how did God do it? The first thing was to cross over the wall of separation and be with us in our humanity.

The song goes on to say that a child “will bring us goodness and light.”  The Bible says it this way: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The heart of the Christmas story is that God has come to us in our fears.

I believe that Jesus is the hope of the world to overcome our fear by bringing us goodness and light. Why do I believe that? Because I have seen Jesus do it for me. His message from God that I am loved and forgiven has given me the confidence and the power to offer love and forgiveness to others. And that begins by being with people on the other side of whatever wall that separates us. A time of crisis does not have to end in tragedy. We can resolve differences and learn to live together in peace. But it won’t be easy and we will need help. And God has provided that help in the one who brings goodness and light, truth and love to us and then through us to the world.

We can’t isolate ourselves from others and expect God to bless only us. We were meant to live in a community and to be a blessing to others. I see followers of Jesus working to bring goodness and light in northwest Iowa. When we have seen his glory, we will offer grace and truth. But we must look to Jesus. We must help each other to see Jesus and become more like him. We can do that.

Do you see what I see?