December 22
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and night wraps itself around me,”
even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
Psalm 139:11-12
John Pierpont died a failure at the age of eighty-one. Although he graduated from Yale, he failed as an educator - too easy on his students. He turned to law where he also failed - too concerned about justice to take cases that brought good fees. He failed as a dry-goods merchant - could not charge enough to make a profit. He tried his hand at writing poetry, some was published, but not enough to make a living.
He went to Harvard Divinity School and was ordained as minister. His position for Prohibition and against slavery led to his forced resignation. The Prohibition party nominated him for governor of Massachusetts - he lost. He ran for Congress - he lost. The Civil War came along. He volunteered as a chaplain, but had to quit after two weeks; too much strain for his health – he was seventy-six years old.
However, in one important sense, John Pierpont was not a failure. Every December we celebrate his success; a lifelong memorial; a song. Not about Jesus or Santa Claus. It’s a song of the simple joy of whizzing through the cold white dark of winter in a sleigh pulled by one horse, and laughing all the way.
In 1995, on a dark December night just outside of Bozeman, Montana, Marian, the girls and I joined my brother’s family on a trip to a ranch. The snow was deep and white; the light of the moon and stars reflected off the snow. The horse was dark gray with red harness and bells. And yes, we dashed over the snow, laughing all the way. Thank you, John Pierpont. The ride was just as you wrote.
That night I couldn’t help but recall the words of Psalm 139, ‘even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.” And so, my prayer that night is the same for this day:
Prayer: Creator God, may your light shine in all the dark times and places in our world bringing hope, peace, joy and love. Help us to reflect that same light to each person and situation we encounter. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. Amen.
Butch Sherrill
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