The Art of Advent... Let the Lower Lights Be Burning

Looking for the Lower Lights

It is cold here on the hill at the farm... 36 degrees yesterday with the wind chill factored in. And last night it was snowing as we went to bed. No accumulation was expected because the ground is still warm but there it was, snow in October. Ski slopes are rejoicing but not farmers. After a difficult dry summer with not enough hay put aside, we are feeding winter rations already. Large animals need a great deal of hay during cold weather not just for nutrition’s sake. Digestion, the work of multiple stomachs, keeps them warm during winter’s blasts.
Last night when I fed the cows, I opened the gate to the barn so the cows could have shelter. I came up the hill to our house and gathered the horses in from the grazing patch to feed them in the barn. Then I went to get the donkeys. Shirley T and Kate always slip under the electric cord to go their own way for grazing. Last night they did not want to come in and refused to let me lead them home. So I did the rational thing. I drove the mule like a horse, ran their little donkey butts over hill and dale until they gave up and ran home. Their little legs can cover some ground quickly. Shirley T was so frisky from the cold weather that she kept jumping in the air with all four feet, braying (cussing) as she outran the mule.
Mama and I were laughing about daddy getting so mad with the cows that he would bump them (gently) with his truck. I have become my father. My only excuse is brain freeze. After an hour in the cold with gusty winds blowing, my ability to think was frozen. Oh, well... The donkeys have been getting too fat from too much grain so they needed the exercise.
This morning at nine, the vet is coming to check Dakota out. Dakota has turned out to be an easy horse to ride. He has good sense and his years of experience as a trail horse make him patient with beginners. Dakota is a good influence on Junie B when Michael and I ride together. It will be cold down at the stable and I might need to take a thermos of hot tea to stay thawed out.
Winter’s cold winds remind me that the darkness of Advent is approaching. Advent is s study in paradox and contrast. We mark the passing of the Sabbaths with words like peace, hope, joy, love... warm fuzzy words that make us feel good. But the truth of Advent is the absence of light. The One who brought light to our darkness has not yet been born. Like the darkness of winter days, the darkness in our hearts and souls needs a season for recognition and release. I stand outside at the stable gate, in the night darkness, seeing the glow of far off lights in Asheville over the hills and mountains. As I prepare to enter this Advent season, I will carry the memory of those lights and all the Light that has been a part of my life for sixty two years.
An old hymn based on seafaring experience is my theme song for this preparation time. “Brightly beams our Father’s mercy from His lighthouse evermore, But to us He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore. Dark the night of sin has settled, loud the angry billows roar, eager eyes are watching, longing for the lights along the shore. Trim your feeble lamp, my brother; some poor sailor, tempest tossed, trying now to make the harbor, in the darkness may be lost. Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave! Some poor fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save.” Luke 12:35, the Bible verse inspiration for this hymn, says “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning...” I will try to keep my light burning through the darkness of Advent winter. I will clothe my soul in hope, love, joy and peace while I wait for the Light to shine on me again. And it will...