The sun set in Barrow Alaska on Nov. 19. Sunsets are not exactly earth-shattering news — except when you consider that Barrow Alaska is America’s northernmost city. Because of their location about 330 miles north of the Arctic Circle, they won’t see the sun rise again until 1:08 p.m. on Jan. 23.

That’s over nine weeks of near darkness to utter and complete darkness. That’s more than two months. That’s 65 days between sunrises. Sixty-five days of living, working, existing in the dark.

Residents of Barrow know firsthand what even those of us a little further south may experience in the long, dark, days of winter. It’s called Seasonal Affective Disorder sometimes mislabeled the “Winter Blues” but really its more than that. It has been shown that people are more prone to depression and mental illness during the winter season. This has a direct relationship with the lack of sunlight that we are exposed to this time of year. It seems that during this time when daylight is at its shortest so are our coping mechanisms.

No one has to tell you about the darkness, because in one form or another, at one time or another, to some degree or another, it has touched the life of every person. At some point or another, everyone has been acquainted with the night, whether in the form of depression, grief, addiction, loneliness, illness, or despair. We cannot naively deny the existence of the darkness. Nowhere in scripture do we receive a pep talk or an argument that things aren’t really as bad as they seem. Rather, it affirms that the darkness is real and it is present.

Yet Scripture promises that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “the people who walk in darkness have seen a great light.” John’s Gospel records: The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. And we come together to sing the familiar words again: “Yet, in thy dark street shineth the everlasting light.” 

The imagery of light overcoming darkness is the symbolism behind much of our Christmas decorations. Of course, as one neighbor attempts to top another in the house light competitions, the symbolism can almost become comical. In one neighborhood, there was a nativity scene spotted where the plastic baby Jesus was illuminated. Only problem was the bulb in Jesus was on the same circuit as the rest of the flashing lights. One moment Jesus was shining like the light of the world, the next moment he was dark. 

And so here is the Good News. In this season, we celebrate that the people who walk in darkness, on them a light shines. Our God is not a God who is on then off; there and not. Our God is a faithful and steady light that is constant in overcoming the shadows. Our God does not create and live at a distance. The Word has become flesh and dwells among us. God is born to us in meager surroundings of a stable yet comes to us as a Savior. To be with us along the dark and unknown journeys. To fight the despair and unknown found in the night. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of eternal life.”

May you have a hope filled Advent and a bright and blessed Christmas!

— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Todd Hackman is senior pastor at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Monroe.