Each year Jewish people worldwide celebrate the festival of Hanukkah, which this year begins on Thursday evening on 7 December, by lighting the first of the seven menorah candles. Hanukkah lasts for eight days and is also known as the ‘Festival of Lights’.

This symbolic lighting of a candle has also been adopted by some Christian denominations, such as Unitarians who light a chalice candle before the start of their services.

In the Bible, God is referred to as both Light and Love because Light was the first Creative act by a Creator whose inherent nature is Love. As a reflection of God’s nature both Love and Light are dynamic: constantly giving. Whenever we light a candle, even though we may light a million individual flames, all Light is One, just as Love is the source of all Unity.

Jesus is referred to as ‘The Light of the World’ because in Him we see the incarnation of God’s Love as an historical event by which the Divine Light of Love was manifested in human form. Through the advent of Christ, God is no longer an abstract concept but a living reality.

In dark places we can see the path ahead if we carry a torch. The Light of God’s Love in Christ illuminates the way beyond the darkness of greed, hate and violence to the right path, not only for every individual but for the whole world. When the night is darkest let us be torchbearers of God’s Light of Love.      

Written by John Pickering, www.onelight2beyond.com

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