(A Reflection for the First Sunday of Advent)
Advent begins in the dark.
The first candle we light — the Prophet’s Candle, the Candle of Hope — doesn’t flood the room with brightness. It’s just a small flame, a single point of light pushing back the shadows. Jeremiah speaks into this very kind of darkness when he says:
“The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made…” (Jer 33:14–15)
He spoke these words from God into a world that felt like it was unraveling. Jerusalem was in turmoil, the people confused, and no one was listening to this “weeping prophet.” I imagine Jeremiah as the doom-and-gloom guy nobody paid attention to, with so many “false prophets” playing on people’s fears. But Jeremiah was commanded by God to press on with speaking His truth, even in the face of so much harsh rejection.
That’s why these words still cut deeply today — because in all our darkness, we struggle to discern God’s promise, His light. His Word dances around us, and so many times we push it away.
My Own Search for God’s Light
Jeremiah’s words take me back to an afternoon in 2019. It was a tumultuous period in my life, and I was begging God to illuminate my way forward. His Spirit had pulled me out of the shadows the year before, and I longed to be a light for Him in this hurting world — I just didn’t know where to start.
That afternoon, I felt drawn to walk the beach near my house. Walking helps me think and pray. My desperate plea to God went something like this:
“Lord… there’s so much pain in this world!
So many hopeless people. Their hopelessness cuts me so deep! How it must pain You, too!
Help me bring Your light to them!
Help me show them why there is reason for hope! Help me show them the way to You!”
My heart literally ached for God to enlighten me — to give me some small sign, some direction.
A Lamp For My Feet
After walking for over an hour and with the sun beginning to set, I returned to the place I’d started — where I’d left my slippers in the sand. And there it was, sitting right there alongside them, where I could not miss it.
A single kukui nut shell.
This little nut had been worn smooth by the waves over a long time, yet it remained unbroken. Hundreds of feet from the shoreline, with only Ironwoods and their needle-like branches skirting the beach, it had landed right by my slippers. It demanded to be picked up and inspected.
Shiny.
Black and white — a picture of light and darkness.
Hollowed — spent, yet still whole.
Shaped almost like a heart.
I picked it up and carried it home. Once there, I looked up kukui nuts online because I was so curious to know how this nut could have found its way onto the beach and next to my slippers.
Kukui nuts were brought to Hawaii by Polynesian voyagers who used the stars to guide them across a wide, dark ocean. Today we also know it as the candlenut — its oil was a primary source of light for Native Hawaiians.
It was a pure moment of grace.
Slowly, the depth of God’s message sank in. Here in my hand rested a most unassuming source of light. I’ve carried that same source in my heart since I received the light of Christ in baptism.
In this simple, hollowed out shell, I felt the fullness of His presence and how our God emptied Himself for our salvation on the cross.
Its shape spoke of the love we hold onto through the Holy Spirit.
And those white patches that creeped over the blackness of the shell? These called me to always hope—because in Jesus, we have been given the Light of the World.
The Heart of Hope
Jeremiah called out in a time of great darkness:
“The days are coming.”
And every Advent, we light that first candle to say the same:
Awake! The day of our Lord is coming.
Our Hope is in this Light of the World.
“God With Us”.
Emmanuel.
A Prayer for this First Week of Advent
Lord Jesus,
as we light the first candle, kindle hope in us.
Where we feel uncertain, illuminate our steps.
Where the world feels heavy, show us Your steady promise.
Let Your light break into every shadow of fear, grief, and confusion.
O Come, Emmanuel.
Amen.
