At the Movies: Night on Earth

As we edge ever closer to the shortest day of the year, I find myself lighting candles and turning on as many lamps as I can to chase away the darkness. 

I don’t mind winter, really; I don’t suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and stepping out into the cold for a long winter walk feels romantic and invigorating to me.

But darkness is harder. At this time of the year, I miss my evening walks around the neighborhood with my husband and dogs, not because it’s cold but because the sky is already black by the time we are done with work. The night begins even before I’ve started to prepare dinner, and while I can wrap myself in blankets and turn on every light, darkness has a way of edging in.

What does the night hold? 

Night on Earth

I turned to the Netflix documentary mini-series, Night on Earth, this week because it seemed like the right thing to do as we make our rapid descent into winter.

I am not a creature of the night. By design and by choice, when the sun sets, I make my way into some flannel pajamas, light all of the candles (when I say all of the candles, I mean all of the candles), and prepare for my daily long winter’s nap, which begins its onset around 7 o’clock (if I have my way). By 9:30, I’m in bed, and by 9:31, I’m asleep.

But there are many, many creatures of the night, many creatures whose 40-hour-work-week takes place under the cover of darkness. Night on Earth pulls back that veil. Using high-tech camera equipment in jungles, deserts, and oceans around the world, the crew illuminates the night, revealing for the first time on film some of the most iconic animals’ nightlife, and it’s anything but restful.

Finding the Love: Faithifying Your Viewing

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night,” Luke begins (Luke 2:8 NIV). 

Safe inside my home, night is silent. Night feels holy.

But in the world of first-century shepherds, night was dangerous. They weren’t out there for the fun of it—they were on guard, aware of the predators that lurked nearby. Even though I know the most frightening creature lurking in my backyard is likely a skunk, if I venture out into our woods to dump our compost after the sun sets, my pulse quickens. I pull out the flashlight function on my phone so I can see what might be scurrying in the fallen leaves. It’s usually a squirrel.

So even the darkness in my own backyard sometimes feels frightening. 

The angels’ message of “peace on Earth” stands in stark contrast to the shepherds’ occupation in those fields and throughout the savannas filled with prowling lions, cheetahs, hyenas, and other night hunters featured in Night on Earth. In the darkest night, the angels’ message of good news and great joy may have seemed too good to be true to the shepherds who were used to arming themselves against the terrors of the night.

But hope seems to shine brightest in the darkest of night. 

The waning light aligns with the church’s advent season, a season of hope, peace, joy, and love that celebrates the coming Messiah, the Prince of Peace. The Prince of Peace entered a world that was well acquainted with war, terror, fear, anxiety, and division. That has been the Spirit’s way ever since. 

The Light of the world enters every dark place and promises that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Light of the world shines its illuminating rays into the darkest corners and “darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5 NIV). In fact, God even inhabits these dark places; God sees us and is with us no matter where we go and what we encounter. “Even the darkness will not be dark to you;” writes the psalmist in Psalm 139, “the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

The Advent season welcomes Immanuel, boldly declaring that God is with us even in the midst of darkness. When we have the Light of the world, we’re able to walk into the dark night without fear, because God is with us. God’s love sustains us. God’s peace settles our anxious hearts. God’s Light reveals the dangers and says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NIV).