I take encouragement from this because it feels to me like we’re in darkness a lot these days. 2020 has just been so much, right? And now, in the Northern Hemisphere, daylight is waning and there’s more darkness with each passing day. This passage is describing metaphorical darkness, but the real thing is present too. Although darkness itself doesn’t have to be bad, and in it I sometimes find God, what we’re talking about here is the destructive kind of darkness, that which is not of God.

As our Church year draws to a close and actual darkness grows day by day, our Scripture readings direct our attention to the end times and the second coming of Christ. And that’s not such a bad thing either, if you’re living your faith. Be ready, we’re told. Here readiness is described as not only standing in the light, but being “alert and sober.” We’re told not to “sleep as the rest do.” As a frequent insomniac, I’m not a big fan of that directive. However, wakefulness here, too, is metaphoric. One can sleep eight hours through the night and take naps and still be awake and sober and prepared for the coming of Christ. The point is that we Christians are to stay at the ready.

Personally, I almost never think about the end times. I worry plenty about the future, but that’s not the same thing, is it? Last Sunday, though, a couple of my neighbors helped me to consider this part of our faith tradition. Both women are Christian activists, and one in particular has been doing this work for a long time. Every Sunday for the past few months, I’ve stood with them and some others for an hour or so along a busy street in our neighborhood. We hold up Black Lives Matter signs and wave at passersby. Usually people honk and wave back, but occasionally we get a thumbs down or even the finger. I’ve noticed that my neighbors never respond to negativity with more negativity; they just keep waving. This past Sunday, everyone was particularly positive, and little hands waved to us excitedly from car seats and drivers honked and shouted with jubilation. We lingered afterwards, chatting about the future. The topic of the end times just sort of came up. There’s still work to be done, after all, and we were worrying together about the transfer of power from one president to another and how that might go. One of my neighbors said, “I just trust Jesus to work it out. I’m here doing God’s work, and if the world ends now, I’m ready.” The other agreed with her. “Yes, the Lord is coming, and I’m ready.” The turn of our conversation took me by surprise at first, but their words gave me pause.

As I think back on this conversation, a powerful one had at a busy intersection amidst honking affirmations of Black Lives, I realize that simply standing there together in the sunshine and doing this work is what it means to be children of the light. “But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and children of the day.” There’s a sense of urgency in this, but not panic. It’s kind of comforting, actually. It reassures us that we’re standing in the light and won’t be taken by surprise. We’re ready. I don’t need to literally stay awake, tossing and turning through the night worrying, because I can trust that God is taking care of everything.

I take my cue from my wise neighbors. Staying alert and sober means keeping on keeping on, doing the work that God has given us to do. How and what we children of light do in a time of darkness takes discernment. Circumstances shift all the time and how God calls us to respond changes with them, but the constant is God’s call itself. Being children of the light means shining a light on the work to be done – and doing it. We stay awake by staying woke, and staying woke is an ongoing process of growth and hard learnings and perseverance.

So, companions, fellow Children of Light, what do we do with this? As we stay awake and stand in the light together, how is God calling us to respond to the darkness of today? What is God directing us to notice, to be alert to today? And how can we trust God more fully?

 By Sister Leslie Keener, CDP

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She also serves on the Coordinating Council of Spiritual Directors International. She enjoys music, dancing, and meaningful conversations.