Week of December 3, 2001
Pastor Tacie

"The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness does not overcome it."
John 1:5

We have just lit the first candle on the Advent wreath. We have just entered into that waiting/preparing/pregnant time of Advent. In this time we will pray for Christ's return while reflecting on the meaning of his first arrival among us. We will watch as the days grow shorter and the darkness comes earlier. We will speak about light, the light that illumines the darkness around us. The light that is Jesus the Christ. Only this year, we do so with a new awareness of how desperately we need that light to shine in our hearts, in our country, in our world. And together we will pray in earnest: Come, Lord, Jesus.

Again I turn to the words of poet Gerhard Frost for our prayer:

If I am asked
what are my grounds for hope,
this is my answer:
Light is Lord over darkness,
truth is lord over falsehood,
life is ever lord over death.
 
Of all the facts I daily live with,
there's none more comforting
than this: If I have two rooms,
one dark, the other light,
and I open the door between them,
the dark room becomes lighter
without the light one
becoming darker. I know
this is no headline,
but it's a marvelous footnote;
and God comforts me in that.
Amen.

Contributed by Pastor Tracie
Published Monday December 3, 2001
Week 1 of Liturgical Year A