Homily: Makenzie McCabe

“In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.” ‭‭John‬ ‭1:4-5‬

When I was first asked to write this post, I almost declined because I didn’t feel like I had anything to say. But I remembered what it was like to ask people to write one, and I said to myself that there is always something to say about the work God has done and is doing in your life. So I said I would, and I started to think about what I should write. I immediately thought about a church sign I saw recently that has given me great comfort and renewed my hope. 

If you know me, you know that I am a major worrier and that it’s hard for me to trust anything. I get anxious over the smallest stuff or the smallest thing happening. So, I don’t think it comes as a surprise that the state our country is in has me very stressed out. It’s so easy to “doom scroll,” a term that means to scroll aimlessly through the Internet or social media and consume in a short amount of time all the bad things that are happening. It gets overwhelming and despairing to see the world like this every day for a long period of time. With my nature, you can see how I’ve been prone to view this world as hopeless. I’ve become very tired of a lot of things. I’m tired of seeing people I know dismiss all the violence that has happened this past year and the excuses people give to dismiss it. I’m tired of seeing people compare the attack on the Capitol with people who are protesting for justice because of lives being lost. I’m tired of seeing the way the world, whether it be news or social media or people, wants to dictate how people live their lives and what is right and wrong. So, scrolling on the Internet, seeing injustice after injustice, opinion after opinion, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “What’s the point?” 

But this is where the church sign comes in. I was running around doing errands with my grandfather during the holiday season, and we passed by a church with a digital sign. I was looking out the window, thinking about all I said above, starting to feel the tightness in my chest, when I caught the end of the verses from John and saw, “And the light shines in darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.” I breathed a sigh of relief after I read that. I didn’t realize how much weight I had been carrying in my chest the past couple of months until I breathed that sigh of relief. While I was feeling so hopeless for the world, God invited me to remember that He is Hope. He reminded me that the evils of this world will not overcome the Victory He has already won. That’s not to say that evil won’t happen, but it is to say that we should not despair. 

I am thankful for this reminder of how we, as Christians, don’t get to be hopeless. We always have the Light that prevails over the darkness. God’s word that I saw on the church sign has been what I’ve needed the past few weeks -- to remember who He is. He reminded me that He loves me, even when I don’t love Him well. He reminded me that when I feel overwhelmed, I can come to Him for comfort. He reminded me that He takes care of all the ones He loves and has called us to do the same. He reminded me that He is the Hope of the whole world, and there is not a place where I can go where He will not be. He is the Light in the darkness, and we can rejoice in that. 

Makenzie is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University and served as a Wesley Intern for the 2019-2020 year. She has an infectious smile and an extremely inviting presence, which is immediately recognizable when you meet her. She loves watching rom-coms and is always ready to serve others at the drop of a hat!