Christmas happens just that way. The light of Christ breaks in on our tarnished world, bursting into the gloom surrounding our lives. The Christ child's arrival casts a new luster, restoring the light of hope to a shadowed creation. His appearance kindles awe in human hearts, igniting celebration because God's eternal glory — the uncreated light of the Lord — has shined on us. When Christ comes, we aren't overwhelmed by a blinding brilliance. The Lord is revealed, instead, in the simple and tender light of Bethlehem, in a baby lying in a manger. The Christ child comes, changing the world and us along with it. Once in awhile you catch a glimpse of this transformation, discovering hints of it in others — and in yourself. And when you do, the world takes on fresh color and your life receives new meaning as you are clothed in a beauty not of your own making. That's the promise of this season, the hope of Christmas.
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