Advent and Christmas 2019
Dear Friends at Christmastime,
“Christmas,” writes N.T. Wright, “is God lighting a candle, and you don’t light a candle in a room that’s already full of sunlight. You light a candle in a room that’s so murky that the candle, when lit, reveals just how bad things really are. The light shines on in the darkness, says St. John, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
“Christmas is God lighting a candle.” That Candle penetrates the darkness of the present just as it penetrated the darkness of the past. The Candle gives us light to see, light to guide us, light to give us hope and courage, light to help us in the living of our days.
Christmas, Howard Thurman wrote, is a time for us to light our candles. Christ could be born a thousand times in Galilee—but it would all be in vain until He is born in us. God lighting a Candle would be in vain as well, until we begin to light our candles too.
I Will Light Candles This Christmas…
Candles of joy, despite all sadness,
Candles of hope where despair keeps watch.
Candles of courage for fears ever present,
Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days,
Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens.”
Candles of love to inspire all my living,
Candles that will burn all the year long.
Won’t you light candles with us this Christmas?
Merry Christmas to All.
With love, Hal & Cherie
No wonder I like lit candles so much. Follow the light.
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