The season of Hanukkah ended this past Monday.
It’s too bad Hanukkah lasts only eight days rather than eight weeks (and more) as the Christmas season does.
Then, again, Hanukkah hasn’t become commercialized the way Christmas has.
Instead, Hanukkah has remained a religious observance with the message of hope symbolized by lighted candles on a Menorah.
Hanukkah reminds us that while there is darkness in the world that somtimes feels overwhelming, it has yet to extinguish the light of faith, love, generosity, justice, and peace.
Judaism’s endurance is itself affirmation of the resilience of the steadfastness of hope Hanukkah celebrates.
Jews could have chosen to focus on the stunning military victory the house of the Maccabees won over the powerful Seleucid Empire in 164 BCE.
Instead, they had the wisdom to focus on the lamp miraculously burning for eight days when the Temple was rededicated in spite of having enough oil for only one day.
That focus is why you don’t have to be Jewish to take comfort in the Hanukkah story.
Light shining in darkness is what keeps all of us going because everyone needs hope to survive, a message I think our nation desperately needs this year.
Most Americans have experienced the first two years of Donald Trump’s presidency as a pall of political darkness cast over our country.
It is why we seize upon any sign of hope, any ray of light that appears.
One ray appeared in November when Trump and his supporters suffered an historic defeat in the mid-terms.
Another shone brightly last week as court filings by prosecutors began to reveal more and more evidence of crimes Trump has committed, and the promise that such revelations are just beginning to be made.
A retired policeman who is a close friend has said on several occasions that law enforcement sees someone like Donald Trump as a criminal, pure and simple.
Criminals lie, cheat, steal, and attack anyone who tries to stop them, he says, all the things Donald Trump is doing.
But the light shining in this darkness is getting brighter with each passing day, all the more reason why Hanukkah’s festival of lights seemed so timely this year.
Our hope as a nation is that the prevalence and scourge of Trump’s political darkness is beginning to be dispelled by facts, evidence, and truth, and as that continues to happen the light of American values will gradually shine brightly once again.
As a Christian, I am thankful for Hanukkah, and grateful to our Jewish neighbors for sharing this annual reminder that hope is never unrealistic nor unreasonable.
It is, in fact, always present as long as there are people of faith willing to believe in truth, believe in compassion, and believe that the moral arch of the universe may be long, but does indeed bend toward justice.
I believe all of that, and that is why I also believe the likes of Donald Trump always comes to a bad end.
It is not an end anyone likes to see happen, but one that is both unavoidable and necessary for the simple reason that wherever there is darkness, eventually light will shine in it.
That is the message of Hanukkah all of us – Jews and Gentiles alike – can celebrate as brothers and sisters of the God of Abraham and Jesus.
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