Step out of the shade

In these days of Epiphany the focus is on light and hope.  One of the profound and most shared moments from the inauguration ceremony in the USA on January 20th was the incredible poet Amanda Gorman reading her poem, "The Hill We Climb".  Her poem reflects this theme... especially the closing lines:

When day comes we step out of the shade,

aflame and unafraid

The new dawn blooms as we free it

For there is always light,

if only we're brave enough to see it

If only we're brave enough to be it

May we be brave to see the light.  Or, as Leonard Cohen, another poet, wrote:  

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

Let the light shine through the cracks!  May you see the hope and step out of the shade.

Light for one more step

Hope

… in what cannot be seen in what is not yet real.

Hope

… that this too shall pass, some day.

BUT, until that day,

I do what I can do.

I act in what I know.

And I trust

that God’s love shown in Christ

will shine on me,

will shine on my path.

Gracious God,

I just need light for one step--

and that’s my next step.

Resiliency: Faith Practices during Tough Times written by Robin McCullough-Bade, Copyright © 2020 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Beloved and Blessed

A blessing for today:

May the spirit of God rest gently upon you, and may you hear God's voice saying to you,

"You are my daughter.  You are my son.  You are my beloved child.  With you I am well pleased."

Go into the world, carrying this assurance of love to all whom you meet.  AMEN

Part 2: The Work of Christmas Begins

The Work of Christmas Begins

Work of Christmas Begins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Howard Thurman (adapted)

"When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with the flocks,
then the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal those broken in spirit,
to feed the hungry,
to release the oppressed,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among all peoples,
to make a little music with the heart…

And to radiate the Light of Christ,
every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say.
Then the work of Christmas begins.

The message of the Feast of Epiphany announces to all people, everywhere:

Rise up in splendor…your light has come,
The Glory of the Lord shines upon you!

Let the work of Christmas begin, and let it begin with you."