Thursday, February 25, 2021

Let there be Light!

Read: Matthew 5:13-16, John 8:12

Small pleasures have made a big difference to me this past year. Small pleasures like attending worship in our beautiful sanctuary, a nice conversation with a neighbor, singing harmony with a friend, and lighting a candle.

I had been missing the beautiful luminarias placed around our church perimeter on Christmas Eve. I must have mentioned it to Heidi and Charlie, and Tamara must have also mentioned it. As a team (but I admit that Heidi and Tam did most of the planning), we decided to offer luminaria kits to our GPUMC family. We had a great response and were happy to imagine folks’ homes lit to welcome our Saviour on December 24. And as we thoroughly enjoyed distributing the candles, paper bags, and sand, and having those lovely conversations with people we had been missing, we all mentioned missing the lit candles around the church property.

We decided to secure more supplies and light up the walkway on Christmas Eve. Heidi and Charlie braved the elements and cold to provide a warm glow that evening during the story telling in the Memorial Garden.

We still had more candles, so we planned to celebrate Epiphany with the front walkway to GPUMC lit with luminarias. We had damp weather on Epiphany Eve, so we delayed our lighting to Wednesday.

What a gift! Heidi and Charlie and I laid out the bags in nice calm weather (Tam was quarantining), and we laughed and prayed and sang as we struggled with worn out lighters to light our candles. We talked with two sisters who were walking on the sidewalk, to wish them a joyous Epiphany, and had a joy-filled conversation about the possibility of the two of them visiting our church in the future. We had an amazing hour and were excited about our end result.

What a surprise to learn how God works! Ray mentioned in his next sermon that a committee meeting saw the images of the candles that night and were also lifted up and filled with joy, as we all remembered together that we are still seeking Jesus, still searching for the light. And the light was right there, all along. The light is IN us and all around us.

Thank you for a light filled Christmas season! Amen

Anne Sullivan