Pub Theology 11/12/24 -- Light in the darkness

So we're one week removed from the latest presidential election, and, unsurprisingly, about half of the country is happy with the outcome and about half sees it as little short of a catastrophe. While I am friends with people in both camps, I spend time more often with the later rather than the former. For example, as one colleague put it to me the other day, "I feel like we're headed into dark times." I don't know about you, but that sounds like the basis for a PubTheo topic to me.

The idea of "light in the darkness" is one that we find throughout scripture. For example, in the Gospel of Matthew, (5:14-16) Jesus compares his followers to a light that cannot be hidden. In John 8:12 Jesus says: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life." And in the Old Testament tradition, the prophet Isaiah (42:6) says God has called the people of Israel to be"a light to the nations."

The notion of a light in darkness is a powerful image. J.R.R. Tolkien taps into this in The Fellowship of the Ring in the passage where Galadriel gifts Frodo a glittering crystal phial, proclaiming: "May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out." It's also a familiar image. We're familiar, especially here in the Great Lakes, with sight of a lighthouse on the shore. We're familiar with needing a flashlight to illuminate our way during the next inevitable power outage (thanks DTE). We're familiar with the pull-cord bulb hanging from the basement rafters.

Let's take this idea and talk about it in our conversation this week. What does it mean to you? Where have you looked for light in the darkness when you've needed it, and where do you find it now? What would it mean for you to be a light in the darkness? And does that have particular meaning for us as we look to the four years ahead?

We'll talk all about it in our discussion this Tuesday, Nov. 12, starting at 7pm at Casa Real in downtown Oxford.