“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: ‘Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’” Ephesians 5:6-14
We enter the season again, the time when the warmth of weather wans, and we are chilled and shadowed in the fall and following winter months. Yet, we anticipate (or try to) the coming of light in the holiday celebrations. Our routines require us to begin the preparations, to think of what family we will visit or which invitations to send out, which to accept. We are told to make our lists and set aside our time in prayer, in service, in reflection. It is these routines that set the tone for our season; yet it is our choices and then our actions that make those routines work. We are working against the weather and against the consumerism that so pervade this season.
Let us take heart in the routine, and choose to do the work of the simplest task—make the decision and then go forward. Remind yourself that your will is to align with that of God’s will. Align yourself with that higher power of goodness; use its momentum to bring you up above the cold of the season, stretch toward the light.
“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” John 1: 4-5
As an exercise in setting aside the cold, setting aside the consumerism, setting aside the unmotivated and tiresome of too many mundane realities—what will you pray upon to call you toward God’s will; what will you think on to move you in that direction; what will you do to prepare the way for the celebration of Christ’s Light born into our troubled world?
by Community Contributor
Prayer
God of Light, grant us the strength to choose one prayer, one thought, one action. God of All, we come asking for your help that we might live our lives with Your Will as our beacon of light. In gratitude and in faith, we pray. Amen.