As we enter into September, the light starts to take on a new aspect. The sun begins to sink a little on the horizon and we slide toward the autumnal equinox—the moment of equal parts daylight and darkness that will begin the loss of daylight until the winter solstice.
There are some people who do not look forward to this decrease in daylight, whose bodies respond chemically—they develop in their teens usually, a syndrome called seasonal affective disorder. It is characterized by depressed mood and most of the symptoms of depression, and usually starts in late autumn and winter, although some people also have it in summer.
The main treatment for SAD is light—taking long walks or otherwise getting exposure to sunlight or using a special lamp that mimics sunlight can help get improve symptoms.
When St Paul writes to the Roman Christians about clothing themselves with the armor of light, he also is referring to the kinds of sickness we encounter when we seek darkness rather than the light of Christ.
The darkness Paul writes about includes seeking the things that don’t last, the things not of the soul but of the world. He starts with reminding us that the first and greatest commandment is to love your neighbor and yourself. Loving others seems to be easy if they are close to us and love us too, but Paul is reminding the Christians of Rome of neighbors, not just family and friends. The darkness of not loving our neighbors makes us seek pleasure for the sake of pleasure, focuses us on easy love not on hard love.
What would it be like to clothe ourselves in the light of Christ?
We would seek to learn how Christ showed us God’s love—reading scripture, spending time with God in prayer and meditation to build our relationship.
We would seek to be with others who we know are good at showing God’s love, to learn from them, watch their behavior, their talk, what rituals help them focus on God’s love.
We would steep ourselves in the sacraments. We would nourish ourselves in the prayers of confession, intercession on behalf of the world, and most importantly the body and blood of Christ that feed us with that love we seek to emulate.
We would thank God daily for the blessings of our lives—because in nurturing grateful hearts, our hearts also learn to love even the challenges that we encounter. When we learn gratefulness, our whole lives take on joy and we learn the courage to live in truth and beauty.
We would take time to love ourselves. We would do those things that nurture our body and soul, our relationships with others, take quiet time to rest, treat our bodies as lovingly as possible. When we love ourselves, we have more love to give to others. And we then become one of those models who others look to when they want to learn to clothe themselves in the light of love.
Finally, learning to love is learning to trust God. When we trust God with our lives, we give up worrying about the mundane things of life, and when we have less anxiety in our lives, we have more room to love the entire world. Instead of fretting about the world, we love it by giving back what blessings God has given us.
Putting on the armor of light is putting on the love of Christ for all to see. It is being a shining light for the world, casting beams into the darkness around us—the darkness of the bullies at school, the darkness of an angry boss at work, the darkness of the loss and grief of old age. Our love can change the world, our light does make a difference.
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