I just met with a family in our columbarium, to pray with a widow and her son. Next to her husband’s niche is the niche of her youngest son. It’s a dark time for her remaining family, as they remember the times when they were all together.
Today I will meet with a woman whose cancer has come back. She just wants to sit and talk for a while. She is walking through the valley of the shadow now.
A couple waits for me to pray with them over their baby, who was born with a heart problem that will require several surgeries. They feel the shadow over them, too.
Our Scripture was handed down to Matthew from the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah and his people longed for a Messiah, a savior, a servant of God who would come and set their world right. Matthew knew that his flock was still hoping and longing, and he had great news, the Good news! At last, the light had dawned. Jesus was here.
Jesus came into a world that Matthew (and we) knew was dark. Today, crime and violence fill our news. Anxiety is up and prices are up and community is scattered and hard to gather again, post-pandemic. We know what it’s like to feel shadowed.
In Psalm 23, The Psalmist talked about that shadow in our world: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow, I will fear no evil.” Even better than walking without fear is walking in the light that has dawned in Jesus Christ, which cannot be taken away, or put out. On all of us, the Light has shined and it is still shining.