Giving Light

In the Dominican Republic where I served my mission the electricity would leave and come back sporadically. Sometimes there would be no electricity for hours, days, and sometimes weeks. The Dominicans referred to the electricity as “light.” In fact no one knew the word for electricity. When the “light” would leave, the streets and alleys were pitch black! Everyone operated by candle-light at night. The missionaries taught and studied by candle-light. There was always a sense of discouragement when the “light” was gone. But when the “light” would come back, no matter what time it was, there would always be whooping and cheering heard through the little neighborhoods. Kids would shout and jump around, adults would look to the heavens in thanks. They would say “Vino la luz” meaning “the light has come!”

Symbolic? One more thing.

In Spanish they don’t say “when is your baby due?” or “did she have her baby?” They say (directly translated) “did she give light?” or “when will she give light?” The birth of a baby is referred to as “giving light.”

The Latinos must have had it right because Mary, in a humble stable, “gave light” that crisp, cool night. The LIGHT OF THE WORLD was born and just as the Dominicans do when light comes after so much darkness, there was celebrating and whooping and cheering heard throughout all the heavens and the earth because the light had come.