Dear Friends,
Tomorrow is the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Over the centuries it has also been called Candlemas – the feast of lights – with congregations having lit candles during services. It is also the church’s official ending of the Christmas period. For our attachments today we are focused on light/darkness.
The musical blessing is the Celtic blessing appropriately from ‘Light in our Darkness’. Let’s pray that those who are finding darkness difficult will find a chink of light that will give them hope. Let’s also remember our sisters in Goma who are in serious danger & very fearful as the M23 rebel group have taken over part of the city in the last week.
Hoping you have a good week & with our love
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Memo for those who join us for zoomed Evening Prayer: there won’t be any tomorrow – Sun 2 Feb.
CARRYING A CANDLE
JAN SUTCH PICKARD
Carrying a candle
from one little place of shelter
to another
is an act of love.
To move through the huge
and hungry darkness, step by step,
against the invisible wind
that blows for ever around the world,
carrying a candle,
is an act of foolhardy hope.
Surely it will be blown out:
the wind is contemptuous,
the darkness cannot comprehend it.
How much light can this tiny flame shed
on all the great issues of the day?
It is as helpless as a new-born child.
Look how the human hand,
that cradles it, has become translucent:
fragile and beautiful, foolish and loving.
step by step.
The wind is stronger than this hand,
and the darkness infinite
around this tiny here and now flame
that wavers but keeps burning:
carried with such care
through an uncaring world
from one little place of shelter to another.
An act of love.
The light shines in the darkness
and the darkness can never put it out.
Holding the Light
Gather up whatever is
glittering in the gutter,
whatever has tumbled
in the waves or fallen
in flames out of the sky,
for it’s not only our
hearts that are broken,
but the heart
of the world as well.
Stitch it back together.
Make a place where
the day speaks to the night
and the earth speaks to the sky.
Whether we created God
or God created us
it all comes down to this:
In our imperfect world
we are meant to repair
and stitch together
what beauty there is, stitch it
with compassion and wire.
See how everything
we have made gathers
the light inside itself
and overflows? A blessing.
Stuart Kestenbaum
Light & Darkness
Henri Nouwen
“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.”
Chittister comments: “The stars that come with the darkness are the new insights, new directions, new awareness of the rest of life that darkness brings.” She is right. The darkness of winter is a time for soul searching, introspection and self-examination. It is meant to be a slow-down time that we do not run from, but that we invite into our lives as a welcome guest and embrace with as much enthusiasm as we embraced the summer. It’s a time to intentionally sit in the dark and savour the astonishing depths of God.
The Inner Radiance
Joyce Rupp
I’ve experienced some of the strongest light
coming from those who have suffered greatly.
As the darkness breaks their hearts open,
they become ever more vulnerable
and compassionate.
When this happens, walls of resistance,
mental defenses, and tightly held securities
fall away.
Radiant kindness easily spreads
because it has more room to shine.