Here is the Light of the World
See it shine between parent and child in their teasing bedtime negotiations,
For stories and clean teeth.
Here is the Light of the World
Hear it ring out from this wrinkled face laughing at a memory, sprung from nowhere,
As surprised as you are.
Here is the Light of the World
Catch the aroma of it in a wilting bunch of violets, brought with tenderness back to the slum,
Rescued from the gutter.
Here is the Light of the World
Savour the taste of it in cheese and tomato rolls made bleary-eyed with ungrudging love,
A daily dawn devotion.
Here is the Light of the World
Feel it warm and loyal between our held hands as we await the results, seated on plastic chairs.
And whatever they are, in my staying.
Here is the Light of the World
Know the darkness has not overcome it.
© Keren Dibbens-Wyatt 2015
There are only two feelings
Love and fear.
There are only two languages
Love and fear.
There are only two activities
Love and fear.
There are only two motives, two procedures, two frameworks, two results
Love and fear, love and fear.
This poem by Australian cartoonist Michael Leunig is what comes to my mind as I read the reports of yet another mass shooting, this time in San Bernardino California. It is only a few weeks since I wrote this prayer for the victims of the bombings in Paris. Now I am grieving for more victims of violence and their families. I grieve for those who respond with the desire for more violence and with overwhelming fear and hate. I grieve for all of our society as we grapple with how to respond.
The rhythm of violent death is one that cuts across all our lives like a bolt of lightning. The shockwaves reverberate through our society. Hate, anger, intolerance rise to the surface. We take sides. We lash out at those who want to respond in ways we find unacceptable – more guns, less guns, more restriction, less control, the arguments will never be resolved. And our own anger and violent responses can easily rise to the surface.
Let Us Respond With Love Not Fear.
My mind goes back to the shootings at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston in June by a young man who first spent an hour in Bible study and prayer with his victims. Friends and relatives did not responded with hate but with love and forgiveness.
The granddaughter of Daniel Simmons Sr., one of the victims, said,
“Although my grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of hate, this is proof—everyone’s plea for your soul is proof that they lived in love and their legacies will live in love. So, hate won’t win. . . .
And its true. The shooter hoped to start a race war, with hatred at its center. The victims’s families created a wave of love instead that I think could ignite a movement.
We all have the choice to respond to the brutalities of our world with despair, anger and bitterness or with hope, love and compassion. If we respond in anger and bitterness the violence and atrocities grow and multiply. If we respond in love and with compassion, God’s presence is able to shine through and transform the horrors into hope. This does not belittle the horror of atrocities such as this but it does make us aware that our God, who is scarred and disfigured by all our sins, our God who suffers with us in the midst of pain, will one day make all things new.
Lets Drive Out Fear and hate With Love.
Advent reminds us that in the coming of Christ we also look forward to the advent of a new heaven and a new earth in which all suffering and pain and death will be done away with. At the centre of our faith is the hope that through Christ all that is distorted by evil can be transformed into the goodness and glory of God.
In meditating on Leunig’s prayer I wrote the following reflection based on 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love because perfect love casts out fear.”
Fear is of this world, love is from God
Fear closes us in, love opens us up
Fear builds walls, love constructs bridges
With fear nothing is possible, with love all things are possible
Fear destroys, love creates
Fear kills, love gives life.
God may we live by the love that flows from your spirit, the love that casts out fear and evil. May we reach out with care and compassion to all those who are hurting and in need. May we drive out the world’s fear with your perfect love. Amen
20 years ago I packed up my bag, got into my family’s car and was driven to a town I had never visited, to be with people I had never met, over 8 hour’s drive from my hometown. I was just out of school, and was off on an adventure! Excited, highly likely nervous (although I don’t actually remember feeling that way) and ready to quit that small home town for something that promised to be far more exciting.
Broken Hill is a place the locals say you either love or you hate. I loved it! The sparseness of the desert landscape. The isolation from any major city. Even the mine, with its piles of dirt and rocks held a certain fascination for me. The Statice plants and sunflowers that would randomly pop up along the roadside after the rain. And of course this new bunch of people I was getting to know. Some of whom still hold a place in my heart all these years later.
But back to those sunflowers. Those glorious golden plants that would sometimes be taller than me! Each evening as the sun would set, the golden faces would bow their heads as the darkness seeped in. But always by the next morning the faces would be back, facing the east and slowly following the sun as the day progressed.
Occasionally there would be a rogue sunflower which seemed to defy the rules, and do its own thing. Often times I would recognise the rebel in me in the symbolism of that rogue flower. I would sometimes take pride in the fact that I stood apart from the crowd. Determined to do my own thing, I would face quite a few heartaches in the years to come because of my decisions to do it Bek’s way, rather than looking to the Father’s light, and allowing myself to be guided by him.
As I reflect on this, I am thankful. Thankful that God didn’t give up on me. Thankful that he redeems our brokenness by shining his light into our ‘every day’. And that when we have bowed our heads as the light fades, we will be consistently greeted again by the sun in the morning after the dark. Its like a promise that God is indeed always there, even as we feel overwhelmed.
So now, as we head towards a time of celebration and thanksgiving for all that the birth of Jesus means I find myself reflecting deeper. These things spring to mind as I do.
Do I daily look towards the (son) and follow him as he moves? Or am I still in a state of rebellion in wanting to do it my way?
How thankful am I really? Ie does it translate into an active thankfulness for our Saviour’s birth?
What specific practices am I allowing God to put in my heart to help me reflect on his light?
Do I reflect God’s light in my own life, to other people?
What will help me if the answer to some of those questions are not as sure as I would like them to be?
And the answer is a simple one. Look to your creator. Gaze on his face. Seek him daily. Like the sunflower that opens up to seek the sun all day long, open your heart to the one who created it all.
If you are like the wise men of old, seek after Jesus. You will find him if you seek him with all your heart.
by Alex Tang
In clinical medicine, there is a very powerful treatment called master inactivity. An experienced clinician knows that there are times in the management of a patient with a serious medical condition that the best treatment is not to do anything but allow time for nature to take its course. This is the hardest treatment to prescribe because it involves the physician not doing anything. The default mode is to do something. Order some form of treatment. Perform some form of surgery. Our hearts are restless and we associate activity with progress. Not to act is a sign that we are negligent or indifferent.
This is also what happens when we are hit with some catastrophes in our lives. In such situation, we are full of an urgency to act. An urgency to do something to get us out of the situation. Anything at all, even though the action may not be beneficial or at times may cause harm. An alternative option is to sit idly by and ride out the storm. Judy Brown creates a scenario in which we are caught in a stormy sea and where inaction may be more beneficial than reactive action.
Trough
There is a trough in waves,
A low spot
Where horizon disappears
And only sky
And water
Are our company.
And there we lose our way
Unless
We rest, knowing the wave will bring us
To its crest again.
There we may drown
If we let fear
Hold us within its grip and shake us
Side to side,
And leave us flailing, torn, disoriented.
But if we rest there
In the trough,
Are silent,
Being with
The low part of the wave,
Keeping
Our energy and
Noticing the shape of things,
The flow,
Then time alone
Will bring us to another
Place
Where we can see
Horizon, see the land again,
Regain our sense
Of where
We are,
And where we need to swim.
The Sea Accepts All Rivers, Judy Brown
This is what I called mastery inactivity. It takes knowledge and wisdom to discern when to act and when not to act. It requires mastery over our emotions as the default mode is to do something. It also requires faith. The sailor in the storm has faith based on her knowledge of the waves. We need to have faith that our catastrophes will blow over, that we need to remain calm in the eye of the storm. And we need to have faith in Him who is able to calm the storm and walk on water.
There are an ebb and flow in the rhythm of our lives; a time to act and a time to cease from action; a time to do and a time to rest; and a time to stress and a time to distress. That is the only way to ride a storm. This is what Advent is all about. It is a time of inaction, rest and reflection. It is a flashback to more than two thousand years ago when the whole of creation kept still and held its collective breath, and waited for the Light. We live in a broken world, at the bottom of the cesspool, in the trough of pain and suffering.
Let us wait together. Wait for a glimpse of the sky. Wait for the Light and then lean into it.
Soli Deo Gloria
Andy Wade – A reflection on day one of our Advent Photo Challenge
Advent has begun. As I listened to our pastor introduce our church’s theme for Advent, “A Light Has Dawned”, and heard about our ever-shortening days, I thought about our friends in the southern hemisphere experiencing a lengthening of days leading up to Christmas. The photo-challenge for this first day of advent, “seed”, seems so much easier to wrap my head around in the spring and summer than in the cold of winter.
I wandered into my garden in search of ideas, only to see death and decay everywhere. What seeds of hope and light could I possibly find here? In spring and summer the seeds would be bountiful, almost like “sand on the seashore”, but now…
Sunflowers, now dried empty tombs where seeds of life once lodged, once gave life to hungry birds suspended upside-down plucking seeds, storing energy for the coming onslaught of bitter cold. But now…
Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. (Rom. 5:6 MSG)
My garden languishes in the failing light, struggling to outlast the darkness and cold. The soil is in no way ready for seed. And if, perchance, an unseasonal warm-up should happen, the seed would quickly die once the cold returned. Yet I do find seed, seed clinging to whithered stems and hiding beneath wilted flowers frozen by harsh, icy winds. Could this be by design?
At just the right time, Christ comes. Into our doubts, our fears, our pain and lostness, Christ comes. Like the seed released in the dead of winter, Christ comes. We see it over and over again in life. Christ comes, but the conditions of the individual are not quite right.
It makes no sense to our human eyes, this baby born in unstable times. At just the right time this child was born, but it would still be years before this seed bore fruit.
It often seems as if Jesus encounters those in darkness at strange times. Yet like the seed released in winter, it’s just the beginning of the story. Soon the conditions will be right, the seed will break its shell and take root in soil now warmed and bathed in light.
- What lessons lie in this winter seed?
- How is my life, like that seed released in the dead of winter, a source of light and hope to those desperately trying to beat back the shadows in life?
- How might I, like Jesus, be patient in love, rather than attempting to force growth before its time?
But when the fullness of time came, God sent-forth His Son— having come from a woman, having come under the Law in order that He might redeem the ones under the Law, in order that we [all] might receive adoption. (Gal. 4:4-5 DLNT)
As I read through my Saturday post I was struck by Bailey’s comment
They came not to the city of Jerusalem where the Jews thought God’s glory would shine, but to the child born in a manager around whom there is already a great light.
We all have our preconceived ideas about where Jesus’ light will shine. Some of us think that the glory of God will shine most brightly in our big churches and cathedrals. Others think it should shine through our governments and political systems. But Jesus came to an ordinary family, through an unwed mother, into a small out of the way town.
To me drawing close to God and living into the light of Christ are synonymous. We cannot be close to God as long as we live primarily in a world whose values are the very antithesis of God’s values – fear instead of love, acquisitiveness and greed instead of generosity, violence & oppression instead of peace. We all need to take time and make space to draw aside from that world and move more deeply into the light of Christ.
What is Your Response?
Where do you think the light of Jesus shines most brightly in our world today?
- In your own life, in the midst of your ordinary everyday life, where are you aware of the light of Christ shining in you and out through you to the world around?
- As you look at the desperate situations of war and refugees, sex trafficking and oppression, Ebola and disease, what glimmers of Christ’s light are you aware of that are already shining in these situations?
Yarn bombing creation by Naomi Lawrence
The glimmers of Christ’s light are already shining brightly in our world. Yes we do see it in the churches and big organizations working for change in society, government and environmental initiatives. But I think it shines most brightly in the lives and work of those that most of the world will never be aware of.
I see it in my Dutch born friend Sandra Lako, a doctor in Sierra Leone who has worked through the ravages of Ebola in her adopted country, losing friends and colleagues to this dread disease. She could have stayed in the safety of the Netherlands, but chose instead to bring God’s light and healing into this horrible situation.
I see it in our friend Naomi Lawrence, who creates magnificent yarn bombing projects that she strategically places in dark corners of her neighbourhood.
I see it in our administrative assistant Katie Metzger who, together with her friend Danielle Neufeld has started an ethically produced, environmentally friendly clothing company Same Threads which employs local artisans in Northeast Thailand.
I see it in the work of my friends Rich and Cheryl Mackey, founders of Arrow Outreach Ministry which works in Juarez Mexico with The Toribeo Family Center, The Socorro Rivera Elementary School and the newest ministry, Tocando Puertas Family Center.
God still works through the small and seemingly insignificant people and places. There are glimmers of Christ’s light already present in a million places in our world.
What Is Your Response?
Watch the video below (no apologies for reposting it) and as you do, think about the friends you know who work in out of the way places with ordinary people who have been hurt, oppressed, or abandoned. In what ways do you see the light of Christ shining through them?
Take time to pray for them, write a thank you note and let them know that the light of Christ shines brightly in their lives. Perhaps God is asking you to support them in other more tangible ways. Spend some time in prayer asking God how you should respond, and then go, provide oil for the lights that Christ has lit. What other responses may God ask of you?
The advent of the Lord is near.
New light dawning where there has been darkness.
The advent of the Lord is near.
New hope reigning where there has been death and despair.
The advent of the Lord is near.
New light, new hope, new life for all creation.
(Pause for lighting of the Advent candle)
This is a season of watchfulness,
We watch and wait for the One who heard our cries and entered the suffering of our world,
We expect new light to shine as the season of joy approaches,
We wait in anticipation for God’s light to penetrate the darkness and radiate within us,
This is a season of preparation,
We watch and wait for the One who broke down the barriers separating us from God, from each other and from God’s creation,
We wait with repentant hearts to prepare the way of the Lord,
This is a season of promise.
We watch and wait and prepare our hearts for the promised coming of Emmanuel,
God with us, God for us, God in us
We wait in hope for our Redeemer to bring God’s love into our broken world,
This is a season of reflection,
We watch and wait expecting to be transformed by the light of God’s holiness.
So that we might serve in God’s kingdom as bearers of light and guide others to the Light.
We wait expectantly for God’s Saviour to come and dwell in our midst,
This is a season of fulfillment,
We await and celebrate the coming of God’s Kingdom with its promise of shalom, of wholeness, of reconciliation and abundance for all.
We wait for the fulfillment of God’s covenant, for God’s Kingdom to come in its fullness,
This is a season of joyful anticipation,
Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on that day and become God’s people
And the glory of God’s Kingdom will be revealed and all people will see it together
We wait expectantly attentive to all the signs of Christ’s coming.
Scriptures for the day –
Follow each scripture with the following refrain
We wait in anticipation and hope for your coming O Christ
Lord whose light shines in the darkness,
Have mercy upon us,
Christ whose birth gives hope to all creation
Have mercy upon us,
Lord whose advent brings joy and love
Grant us peace
Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
Into our troubles and weaknesses,
Into the barren places of our souls, Come Lord,
Come down, come in, come among us and make us whole.
Into the war torn and the refugee,
Into those who live in conflict, Come Lord,
Come down, come in, come among us and make us whole.
Into the homeless and the unemployed,
Into those who feel abandoned, Come Lord,
Come down, come in, come among us and make us whole.
Into the sick and the disabled,
Into those with Ebola and with cancer, Come, Lord
Come down, come in, come among us and make us whole.
Into the poor and the starving,
Into those who are oppressed or abused, Come Lord
Come down, come in, come among us and make us whole.
Into the lives of loved ones,
Into those from whom we are estranged, Come Lord,
Come down, come in, come among us and make us whole.
Into our joys and celebrations,
Into our work and our achievements, Come, Lord
Come down, come in, come among us and make us whole.
O Christ we long for your coming. Hasten that day when those who seek you in every nation will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south and sit at table in Your Kingdom. Hasten the day when your Kingdom will come in all its glory and suffering and pain and sickness and oppression and death will be overcome forever. Hasten the day when we will be resurrected as a great multicultural family and live in peace, harmony, joy and love together in your kingdom.
Calm us to wait for the gift of Christ;
Cleanse us to prepare the way for Christ;
Teach us to contemplate the wonder of Christ;
Touch us to know the presence of Christ;
Anoint us to bear the life of Christ. AMEN
Final prayer: Ray Simpson, Celtic Worship Through the Year, London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1997, p19
This liturgy orginally produced for Waiting for the Light: An Advent Devotional
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