Light at the end of the tunnel amid days of darkness

During his homily on Sunday at my church, our pastor spoke of the proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel.” He framed the talk in the context of a lot of bad news and several tragedies that have happened recently in our local community, and with all the troubles in the world at large. The gloom and doom scenarios he painted even cast a pall over my usually cheerful (and sometimes unattentive?) young children. He spoke of parishioners who have asked for his prayers for the various stresses and maladies in their lives. He spoke of how, at times like these, we tend to focus on the walls in the tunnel as opposed to the light at the end of the tunnel.

He tied this in with this time of year, December, our literal darkest hours in terms of daylight. Trust me. As an early-morning jogger, I can attest to the dark days of December. Finishing a jog at 6:40 a.m., enveloped in the pre-dawn darkness for the entire hour, is all you need to know about December. Contrasting the darkest days of the year are the various festivals of lights that pepper our communities and our homes during the holiday season. The pastor then spoke of the Advent season that Catholics and Christians celebrate during these weeks in December. He spoke of how, with these lights and with the usual festive nature of the season, we are all figuratively thumbing our nose at the darkest days and the darkest hours of the year. The light at the end of the tunnel is always there, he said; we just have to stop focusing on the walls. After its downer of a beginning, it was a wonderful and uplifting message -- for this and any time of the year.

And with that, I share this photo that was emailed to me from Kathy Gould – members of our team, our figurative “shining lights” – standing together in front of the newly illuminated tree on the Marist College campus, after attending Sunday Mass in the chapel. No matter what your faith or beliefs, we hope this photo will lighten your mood for at least a moment.