I went to the Christmas Eve candlelight service at the Central Moravian Church of Managua last night, and this serial reflection seemed worth sharing.
One of the scripture readings was Isaiah 60:2:
Darkness now covers the earth,
and thick darkness covers the nations.
But the LORD dawns,
and his glory appears over you.
I do feel that darkness is covering the earth as we head into 2017. The vision of God's dawning in that darkness gives me hope.
Then after several other scripture passages and LOTS of Christmas songs sung with good spirit in three different languages (English, Spanish, and Miskito -- the Central Moravian Church is culturally diverse), the individual candles were passed out to each person, and we sang:
Jesus bids us shine with a clear, pure light,
Like a little candle burning in the night.
In this world of darkness, we must shine,
You in your small corner, and I in mine.
God is certainly able to intervene directly in this world S/he created, and I could tell you many stories from my own personal experience that appear to be such interventions to me. But most often God works through agents -- and that means you and me, each in our small corner.
But that wasn't the end. We were invited to raise our candles high. In the dark sanctuary with all the electric lights turned off, it's amazing how much light a couple hundred candles can shed, and how beautiful they are, all those sparkling points of light. And this time we sang:
This little light of mine -- I'm going to let it shine.
This little light of mine -- I'm going to let it shine,
Let is shine, let it shine, let it shine.
I take hope that God's light will never fail. I take inspiration from Jesus' call that I be that light in my small corner. And together with my sisters and brothers I pledge my commitment to let my light shine.
Merry Christmas.
(This is my Advent/Christmas creche, with all five candles now lit.)
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