Sharon Delgado

“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5

In this Christmas season, with all its joys and sorrows, we celebrate the light of Christ that has come into the world. One very bright light in my life is the birth of my great-grandaughter—a baby who is welcomed with joy and surrounded with love and care. She confirms my belief in the preciousness of life and in the original blessing of creation.

We also have three family birthdays within ten days of Christmas. This year we celebrate my husband’s 80^th birthday, and we have family here from Puerto Rico celebrating with us.

Even with so much to celebrate, there are also pain points for me and for so many others during these last days of the year. I am aware of the emotional pain, stressed relationships, illness, and other hardships endured by many, including people I am close to. I am also aware of the ongoing horrors being inflicted by the principalities and powers (“the powers that be”), including by the Trump Administration, on God’s beloved children and on the natural world.

The Christmas Carol Joy to the World includes the words “Let heaven and nature sing,” which expresses God’s intention for the world. Yet Christian nationalists, who exert strong political power, have turned this intention upside down in the name of Christ. What greater heresy could there be?

Although the evils of the current administration seem to have reached a zenith, with Trump’s popularity plummeting, we don’t know how much worse it could be. Still to be addressed is the deeply corrupt system that brought him to power. The actions of this president, and the corrupt systemic “horse he rode in on,” are very personal to me. They harm my family and so many others, distort the faith that sustains me, and threaten everything that I hold dear.

Nevertheless, “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” The light of Christ enables us to acknowledge a deeper reality than what is apparent on the surface of things. “The true light that enlightens all people” (John 1:9) offers us comfort, clarity, and direction, regardless of our faith or philosophy. That light is the light of love: the love that can be discerned in this life, the love that sustains all creation, the Love at the heart of the universe.

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