Light Appears!

And now the Light for which we have been waiting dawns! I am so glad! I have longed for that Light this year, maybe more intensely than I ever have, because the darkness has seemed so opaque.

I am looking for the places that the Light reveals itself, with my prayer that the eyes of my heart and understanding are wide open and receptive:

• I am seeing Light in immersing myself in sacred text, familiar words going deeper and deeper
• I am seeing Light in the grace-filled and expansive kindness of others around me
• I am seeing the Light in the generous outpouring of resources and selves on behalf of those who find themselves without Light in this season
• I saw Light in a sanctuary filled with worshippers, holding candles and singing “Silent Night”
• I saw Light on Christmas morning as the sun rose over the ocean
• I saw Light with a hilarious congregation-participatory Lessons and Carols with the Angel Gabriel wearing an Los Angeles Angels baseball cap and a clip of Linus reciting Luke’s story of the the birth of Jesus
• I am feeling the Light of a beloved husband and partner who has gone more than an extra mile to make this heavy season of responsibility one that was merry and bright for me
• I am feeling the light of grown children who have been able and willing to step up to Grace and Hospitality with charm and open-heartedness
• I continue to see the Light in the eyes and voices of grand children who leap and love with energy and imagination
• I heard the echoes of Light in the voices and hugs or response to the celebrations of the ancient and new story of the coming of Christ
• I am cherishing the Light that streams through friends  and family who have taken time to write, call, text, e-mail and show up in this wildly busy time of the year
• I bask in the Light that the darkness cannot extinguish, a Light for all people, for the world.

I pray to be a Light-Bearer in these closing days of 2011, and allow the Light to shine in, through and around me.