“Take notice of what the light does – to everything.”
Tess Guinery
Advent is about waiting, to watch and hope for morning. George de La Tour’s The Adoration of the Shepherds teaches us how to look in this season.
The room is almost entirely dark. A candle burns, but the flame itself is hidden by a hand. We never see the light directly only what it reveals. There is no dramatic illumination, no grand focus. Instead, we are invited to follow the light as it moves.
It travels across a cheek, traces the folds of a sleeve. It settles on tired faces, marked by a long night. This is not hurried light. It draws us in gently.
And at the centre is a child.
There is no spotlight. Just enough light to say here. Just enough to reward the attentive eye. In this painting, the darkness is not banished. The shadows remain. But the night is no longer empty. The light has entered it and in its glow, Christ is revealed.
This is the way Advent light works.
It does not conquer the darkness by force; it dwells within it. As St Francis of Assisi reminds us, “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” John says it even more simply: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Advent invites us to remember the first coming of Christ, born without grandeur and to wait for the second coming , when the greatest light will be fully revealed.
Until then, we take notice of what light does.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned.
Isaiah 9:2
Inspired by a reflection of the Adoration of the Shepherds
Blue Skies & Lollipops 