“And There Was Light” by Melanie Rigney

The Angel at the Tomb, by Verestchaguine, in Russian Church of St. Magdalene, on Olivet

“And There Was Light” by Melanie Rigney

Holy Saturday At the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was Light. God saw how good the Light was. God then separated the Light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” (Genesis 1:1-5)

Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth. (Psalm 104:30) 

He said to them, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him.” (Mark 16:6)

Piety

Jesus, You live! And because You do, I can as well. 

Study

And there was Light.

God created Light out of the wasteland and also allowed the dark to continue to exist. 

We know the Light is good. We appreciate it all the more when we find ourselves in darkness—be it mental, emotional, spiritual, physical. We have faith because we know just how warm and loving, and gentle the Light is. We believe that with God’s help, we can persevere through the dark. We believe the Light is coming, or perhaps is already there, but we cannot see it through.

They were a people not too different from us. They prayed; they had families; they worked to put food on the table. They laughed and loved, judged, and cried. They longed for the Light God had promised, and a few had begun to believe that maybe, just maybe, the man who parried with the community’s religious leaders, who rarely answered a question directly, who healed, was the Messiah who would deliver them from the darkness. And then He was gone, dying on the cross, and the Light of the world seemed to be snuffed out with Him. 

Except—it wasn’t. The tomb was empty. The Light remained, never to be totally extinguished again for those who believed.

And so it remains, two thousand years later. We can embrace the darkness, the worry, the violence, the prejudice, the evil that exists on earth. Or we can embrace the Light or the possibility of the Light—and let it shine on others through us. 

Action

Flood your world with His Light.  Banish the darkness.

 

Image credit: Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/item/2019698546/