1st Sunday of Advent, A People Who Walk In Darkness - Isaiah 9:2

It was Christmas.

More properly, it was the beginning of Advent. The verse for today started, "A people who walk in darkness...," For ten--year--old Katia those words had more meaning than she had known before. She knew that Advent represented the darkness of the world before Jesus came. Still looking at Advent wreaths with their purple and pink candles that darkness had always represented something long past. In Advent Katia became so excited she would hardly breath --shopping, baking, and planning, Christmas Day just around the corner. Until this year she had thought of purple and pink in connection with celebration and anticipation of the holiday rather than representing people walking in darkness.

But, when war came, with war still raging, burning, and thundering around her, Katia's world breathed darkness. In Katia's world people walkied in darkness.

Darkness meant no lights at night. Lights were an invitation to a bombing or mortar attack.

However, darkness also made it was safer to go out at night. Darkness hid people--people walking in darkness, making it harder for the soldiers to see you.

And darkness meant no purple candle, only candle stumps, brown and yellow, green and rust. No purple candle. No pink candle. No white candle! Whatever would Katia do for a Christ candle on Christmas Eve?

Still, today Katia thought of a deeper darkness asshe put the first stump candle in her Advent wreath. Until the war, Katia thought that with Jesus' coming the people no longer lived in the deep darkness of old. Now she knew a present deeper darkness.

A deeper darkness sent bombs dropping on a house because a ray of light shone out into the night. A deeper darkness sent bombs dropping on a hours because a ray of light was showing. That deeper darkness killed people. She had seen children dying, caught in a crossfire or, she shuddered, targeted by a sniper's bullet.

It was a deep darkness. A darkness in which a Croat bridegroom had cut off the head of his Muslim best man. Ivicia, a Croat and, Emir, the Muslim. And that was not rumor. She had seen head. She had almost fallen to the pavement where her heart had landed when suddenly Emir's eyes loomed out of the darkness at the end of the bridge. And Ivicia? Ivicia stood there not ten steps further bragging.

Muslims were supposed to be the people in darkness. Muslims were the people who did not know Jesus as Savior. But Ivicia?! Ivicia grew up in the church. Katia's church! He was there every week, just like Katia. He was there today for the First Sunday of Advent service!

How could his mind be filled with such darkness - such dark thoughts! How could people, even in war, commit such atrocities -- murder, rape, betrayal, torture?

In the church…?

"Ye are the light of the world ... no longer walk in deeds of darkness!"

Yet, this Advent, Katia knew how to walk in darkness. This Advent she knew how deeply her world, her own people, even people from her church, were "a people walking in darkness." Are people who need the Great Light!!