A Light in the Snow

By Karen Reno Knapp

"In him was life and
that life was the light
of men. The light shines
in the darkness, but the
darkness has not understood
it."
John 1: 4,5

right lights are everywhere at Christmas. Twinkling, dazzling, putting on shows, blinking on and off, making the season festive. Soon, three of my four adult children, two spouses and a two-year-old grandson will arrive at our cottage in the mountains of Pennsylvania.

Bright lights will greet them here. My daughter, Phoebe, cannot come but my sons will revisit their childhood as our manger scene shines in the snow from the spotlights illuminating it.

Yesterday I was talking on instant messenger with my oldest son, Ethan. Ethan has lived in Israel for twelve years. He’ll be here for Christmas and is looking forward to catching up. His first question surprised me.

“Do you have snow yet?” he asked.

“We certainly do,” I replied. “And your 69-year-old father is out freezing in it as he drives in the stakes to put up our manger scene. “ “You’ve got to be kidding! “ Now Ethan was the one surprised. He probably thought that John was at the age where he’d say, “Been there, done that.” Ethan has helped put the manger scene up in years past, so he knows it isn’t an easy task, especially on a wintery day.

“One thing for sure...” he continued, “Dad is certainly committed.” Ethan is right. Actually his father, John, and I have attempted to remember when we got the manger scene. We think it is at least twenty-five years old. John ordered the billboard paper figures in the summer, bought the necessary sheets of plywood, glued the figures on and cut everything out with a jigsaw.

The camels were first and the most difficult. Then, later, in December, he had to stake each figure in the ground and construct a manger adding hay. Last, he added two spotlights for reflection. The figures are large so it takes up a big area in our yard. Yet each year it helps us and hopefully others, as they drive by or visit, to focus on the real reason for Christmas.

Until five years ago our family lived on a hill in snowy Oswego, New York, one of the snow capitals of the United States. At night I loved to drive up our road and see the manger scene practically buried in the snow but with her lights shining brightly.

I knew what those lights pointed to. The lights illuminated the symbols of something worth giving up everything else for. As my pastor, Rodney Clark, has said, “Any decision to come to Christ has to be expressed in surrender.“

When my sons were growing up, I wanted to keep them close and protect them. Normal behavior for a mother, I imagine. But even more than that, I wanted them to know the Christ who asks for commitment. Commitment always comes at a cost. Today none of my children live nearby. Blessings come too. My children are safest when they are right where God wants them to be.

Ethan felt God’s leading to Israel and has lived there over twelve years, including the dangerous years of the Intifada. Eli (my middle son) and his family spend four months of each year in Tanzania, East Africa as part of his job as an assistant professor at Houghton College.

For his wife, Linda, it is a return to the continent where she lived as the daughter of missionary parents. They love it but it isn’t easy with a two-year-old and a desire to expand their family. For my youngest son Andrew, and his wife, Kandace, right now it means graduate school in Baltimore and wondering where God will lead them when that time is over. Phoebe and her husband, Greg, live and work in Nashville.

For John and I commitment meant spending over thirty years in Oswego while John taught English at the State University . Now commitment means retirement in Pennsylvania.

Some might say that John is too old at sixty-nine to “mess with” putting up a manger scene, but for us it is satisfying to “keep on keeping on.”

Commitment for each of us means keeping our focus on the Light. John 1:4,5 says “ In him was life and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

So far our manger scene has stood the test of time. With God’s help our faith will too. As our faith stands strong, our Light will keep shining in hopes that others will come to see and understand.