Advent Light Day 20: Mists and Muppets

Today, I decided to go for a drive, and when Googling and thinking about where to go, I discovered a road in New Jersey called “Shades of Death Road.” That was very attractive to me, so I got in my car and went for a drive. Shades of Death Road seems to have a lot of spooky stories and hauntings attached to it, but that may just be because of its name. Very curious how it got that name.

For part of the journey, the road drove through the edge of Jenny Jump State Forest, and it was beautiful and eerie on this overcast day. Eventually I reached a parking lot for Ghost Lake, apparently so named because sometimes there are unexpected mists that rise up from its surface. There were no mists today, but there was a very fascinating thin sheen of ice atop the lake. There was a trail that led around the lake, and I followed it. As I walked along the edge, the ice looked more and more mystical and fascinating. The trail left the lake at one point, and went steeply up, leading to Fairy Cave.

I poked around just a little in the cave. Apparently you can go rather deeper than I went, but I was not feeling particularly brave today. I exited the cave, and sat overlooking the lake. There was something very holy about how the sun pushed through the blanket of clouds, and reflected off the ice on the lake. This was definitely one of today’s signs of God’s light.

From there, I drove into the main part of Jenny Jump, and found my way to the observatory at the top of the mountain. The view from there was astonishing, but I’d left my phone in the car, so unfortunately I have no pictures to share here. But I highly recommend it if you are anywhere in the area. I sat in a nook in a huge boulder on the top of the mountain, closed my eyes, and felt the presence of God all around me. Definitely sign #2 of the day.

And the last sign is something happening right now. As I type this, my family is watching The Muppet Christmas Carol in the next room. There is something very Christmasy about the Muppets to me – through all the chaos and comedy, there’s always a solid sense of hope and community in anything they do. There is a camaraderie and love among the characters in their shows and movies, that outshines any darkness. That’s part of the meaning of Christmas for me. And the music in this movie is so wonderful – I love singing along to “One More Sleep Till Christmas” with my surprisingly good Kermit impression. I’ve seen the movie so many times that it’s enough for me to just hear it. It’s showing me a glimpse of God’s Advent light right now.