The Speed of Dark

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in the land of deep darkness, a light will shine.
—Isaiah 9:2

This is the season of lights in the northern hemisphere. As the days shorten and darkness comes earlier, colorful lights bravely shine as if to make the darkness easier to bear, to make it friendlier and less daunting.

Light does that: it drives the darkness away.

The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. Pretty fast stuff! So when you turn the lights out at night, how long does it take for darkness to appear? In other words, what is the speed of dark?

Is it the same as light: 186,000 miles per second? Actually darkness has no speed. It simply is the absence of light. In other words, darkness is always present, it is the default of light. It is instantaneous.

The Fullness of Time

But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman.
—Galatians 4:4

Waiting is not something most people do very well. You probably never took a course called “How to Wait 101”! Yet it is a life skill you must master, or it masters you! Waiting is, at times, something that you tolerate, endure, or maybe even embrace with hope and promise.

Waiting has the power to slow down the march of time so seconds seem as hours, days seem as weeks, and weeks like months. It is that space between anticipation and realization that we each experience to some degree every day. Stop lights, phone calls, standing in line to get an elevator, waiting for a diagnosis, waiting for word on the outcomes of surgery, lab test or x-ray.

When you wait, it seems that everyone around you could have the answer, so you hopefully look to them for help…for a while.

What Do Angels Say?

Shepherds were watching their flocks by night…suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and they were terribly frightened but the angel said….
—Luke 2:8-10

Ever heard an angel speak?

The Christmas story is full of angels. Gabriel is perhaps the busiest; speaking with so many different folk as noted by Dr. Luke in the first chapters of his gospel.

What do angels say? Ask Zachariah, Joseph, Mary, Elizabeth, or a hillside of sleepy shepherds...they will tell you what angels say! 

“Fear not!”
“Don’t be afraid!”
“Don’t be frightened!”