Sunday, February 23, 2025

Dear God,

Last night as I wearily climbed the steps to my cold bedroom in our 200-year-old home, I paused at the top steps to gaze at the night skies.  A clear night, the black was really black and the stars, oh my, the twinkling white stars glowed magnificently.  I fell into song, "O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made.  I see the stars; I hear the rolling thunder.  Thy power throughout the universe displayed.  Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee.  How great thou art; how great thou art.  Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee.  How great thou art; how great thou art."  My singing of that great hymn fell away as I murmured a prayer of thanksgiving.

When I crawled into bed and slipped under six covers and quilts (we have no upstairs heat in our old home), I smiled and remembered my day.  Of course, as a bad habit, I began to think of all I had heard and seen during the day, outrageous news, conflict and great injustice.  It was then as has also become habit, I felt a quiet tug and a shift in my focus.  I whispered the beauty and joy of the day.

In the course of daily division, loathsome and painful rhetoric and estrangement, I am reminded of the One who said, "I am the light of the world."  Every day, Lord, you challenge me to see the light and be the light.  While it is wonderful to discover the light and feel its warmth, glow and peace, it is even better to be the light for others.  "A light on a hill cannot be hid." Jesus said.

In my lifetime I have never seen a greater need for light.  I surely feel it myself for many reasons.  Some days it is both a burden and pain to have to crawl out from under the dark frozen ground of doubt, fear and despair.  At the same time, I am reminded there is a powerful love that calls me to rise up, to look up and to get up.   

In dark days we must share our light to bring hope, peace and courage to others.  We do not know how long the curtain of darkness will remain but we know faith will give us strength, insight and desire to serve others.  You have taught us these things, O Lord.  You have equipped us for hard work with strong backbones and hands to reach out.  And when we falter and fall, burdened by the pain of what is happening around us, we can look around from our fallen position and know someone from somewhere is holding a light for us.  And then we need to get back up, turn on our light and get back to work.

Oh, Precious, Loving God,

where better

can we turn

than to you?

All our hope,

strength, courage,

love and faith

reside in you

and they

are available

in a breath.

We need

not lose hope

because hope

is embedded

in us

because you

have made it so.

Thank you

for your light.

May it 

ever shine

in this world

and in me,

I pray.

Love, Andrea