Dark and Light – Page 2

Oil

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Too Often,

Dark

is as Bright as Our Days Get,

Until …

Psalm 97:11

Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.

Matthew 25:1-2

Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. …

…

Words of Grace For Today

I’ve never been sure about the bridesmaids.

Not in Jesus’ parable, nor in real life for that matter.

What are they up to, anyway?

Meeting the Bridegroom in the dark, needing lanterns, not being admitted if their lanterns have run out of oil.

I understand not wanting to wait in the darkness.

But waiting?

…

Though it is what life is like for us always, waiting, waiting, waiting for salvation,

for God to save us since we’ve left ourselves no avenue for hope, other than God. (Not that there ever was any other avenue. We just like to think at first that we can find our own way out of trouble.)

So we wait for Light and Joy to dawn,

from the darkness,

not unlike the days growing shorter ever more

and more

until we barely see the sun all day.

Waiting

waiting

for rescue.

Do we really need to bring extra ‘oil’ with us for our ‘lanterns’?

Cannot the Light of Christ guide us?

Let us hope so, because I’m short of oil already,

as you are probably, too,

even if you do not realize it yet.

So another day begins,

begging

God

for

mercy.

Resting

Resting in God’s Peace

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Like the Moon,

We Reflect Christ’s Light in the Darkness,

Spreading Living Colours For All.

Genesis 2:3

So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

Philippians 4:7

… and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

…

Words of Grace For Today

There are times in our lives, more as we age, where we do not have what it takes to make it through a day, and we suffer.

Sometimes it is thirst, or hunger, or danger because we do not have proper clothes or shelter.

(Yes, many have not experienced that, yet, for the assured, protected, and luxuries way of life that many live – which is far beyond a dream for most people – can be taken or disappear without warning or cause, such are the realities of life on earth, especially when others are evil enough to take them from us, and more and more people are able to do just that!)

Sometimes it is a matter of having the ability to think clearly enough to make it through the day. Our thoughts are muddled. Our memories tainted or lost. Our decision making capacities escape us. Out of fear or failure we freeze, fight, or flee, or even act, and those actions or lack of actions place us in more danger than before.

Sometimes, though it is much worse. This happens to people the world over. Has happened-Happens-Will happen to people through all time, past and future. Standard of living does not make one immune, in fact the higher one’s standard of living the more likely it will overwhelm one, so ill equipped one becomes at dealing with such tragedies: we lose our spirit, or our spirits darken to the point we do not see the Light of God, not at all, not at all.

This darkness of the heart invades also our minds and our bodies and can literally kill us, or maim us to such a degree we might as well be dead … and may wish that were possible.

Into this darkness, like the Advent Wreath’s candles growing in number and brilliance each week against the increasing darkness of our days, the Light of Christ comes into our hearts,

into our bodies,

rejuvenating our spirits,

and giving us more than enough light to share with others,

become

instruments of God

spreading the Light of Christ to those

caught in the darkness,

unjustly denigrated and cast out by others,,

forgotten,

until

…

until

the Light of Christ

brings them and us God’s Peace,

and

proves their preciousness,

our preciousness,

to God

once

again.

Another miracle, whether we are ready to see it or not.

The Light of Christ

Guiding …

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Into Our Darkness,

Jesus Enters as an Infant

and Shines!

Isaiah 60:20

Your sun shall no more go down, or your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.

John 1:14

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

…

Words of Grace For Today

Hiking in the coastal forests, up and down hills, the tree canopy covering any view of the sky or the ocean or the mountains further inland, we came upon a lake. It was not a sandy shore. Rather the only access to the water was down a slope of a huge rock that stretched at least 20 meters wide and 40 down to the water. It was growing dark but we rested. The two young boys romped a bit. I, the only one of us parents with navigational skills, explored further for where the trail picked up. There was not a trace.

Distances were hard to gauge but we’d parked one car about 5 km further down the coast where the trail crossed near the edge of a small coastal town not far from our home. The other we left where we’d started hiking mid to late afternoon in a spot, one of many along the 186 km long trail, where one could drive, park, and jump on the trail for a shorter or longer hike, instead of taking the whole 186 in one long, multi-day hike.

But there was no trail to follow, not in either direction around the lake, nor back in any direction where we’d come. Cell phones were a new thing and I had one with me, but there was no service, not for the last kilometre or so.

Finally I hiked back to where there was service, called a friend, and even he had no clue where the trail went. He’d not be on this section enough to know where we were.

So I headed back in growing darkness, mountain lions frequenting the area as well as bears, navigation with a flashlight in spots where I needed to see, and walking in the dark where I could save battery power. This was long before LED’s so the flashlight would last maybe another half hour. …

Life has many such experiences, where serious darkness overwhelms us, where we lose the path forward, where danger could be just around any bend, behind any tree.

That darkness is the darkness of the soul.

That’s the darkness that God sent Jesus to be born as one of us, to live among us teaching and healing, and to save us with the sacrifice of his life. The light of Jesus’ life, teachings, healings, and death shines bright in every darkness, guiding us onward even when we become lost in the darkness, overwhelmed with the evil around us, alone against those that would lie and serve the devil in so many ways, in order to destroy us.

Thank God for that light!

Thank God each morning, noon, and night for that light.

…

in the dark the trail approached that big lakeside rock, winding it’s way around the steep uphill side of it and the hill that extended above it to the right. I needed the flashlight to find my way through a darker patch, unsure if there were rocks I would stumble on, and there

to my left on a tree was a trail marker, pointing to the left, down and back around a switchback, down to a creek with rocks to step across it and a clear trail that headed around the lake on that side.

I backtracked, continued on the ‘wrong’ trail to the lakeside, collected the other three, and in the dark we wound our way around that lake, through the trees as the moon rose lighting our way past more lakes and through more trees, until we arrived at the car, parked and waiting for us.

Adopted

Undeservedly so.

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

God Guides Us On Our Challenging Path to the Light of Christ,

and Calls Us to Share It and Everything

With Everyone.

Psalm 65:4

Happy are those whom you choose and bring near to live in your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple.

Galatians 4:4-5

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.

…

Words of Grace For Today

Happy are those.

Happy are we, as some of those, as we are, who are adopted by God as children. God has chosen us and taken us in when we least deserve anything good. God has given us bounty beyond bounty of things good. Nothing can take that from us.

God calls us to share all this with everyone we encounter, the promise, the reality, the reception of gifts, the challenges, the call to share it all.

God help us, for the tasks are as impossible as the gifts are astounding.

How can we but dance and sing our thanks and praise for all God has given us, including the answer to the age-old question: what is the meaning of life?

Which is none other than to share all we have with those in need.

God help us if we don’t. God help us to do this, each day.

Looking Forward to …

Sunday, December 3, 2023

Looking To the Stars,

To the Future,

As God Promises ….

Zechariah 1:17

Proclaim further: Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity; the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.

Luke 2:25

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.

…

Words of Grace For Today

Signs of the times have always pointed us to the end of times just around the corner. Yet if we imagine the future, are today’s signs of the times so different? Can we not rest assured that God has a long future planned for us all?

Looking 1000 years into the future, trusting God’s promises we can envision Xaria and Ishra Delopier of Glaxton. They will live a day’s travel at 10 times the speed of light from the nearest planet with cities on it.

News will reach them each hour of conflicts and disasters, and diseases. On the first Sunday of Advent news will arrive of another sun gone nova, consuming all it’s planets and the people on them, and the following messages filled with fears that the end of all time has arrived.

At midday Xaria and Ishra will gather for a meal with the refugees they will have taken in the previous weeks. In the first week of Advent they will first thank God remembering God’s work for their ancestors through so many generations, for the Holy Spirit’s presence with them each day, and God’s promise that Jesus would return to bring peace throughout the universe. Together they will end with, “Come Lord Jesus, be our guest. Save us again this day, from disasters, conflict, and disease.” Then they will all return to tending to the drones farming their planet to provide for their own growing numbers and for many people who will buy food from them.

What are we doing today?

Do we wait looking forward to the consolation of the world, assured the Holy Spirit rests on us?

Today is another day to wait, looking forward to all God’s promises for us and all creation.

From Dark

to Light

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

The Way To the Light

Seems To Cross Thin Ice,

So We Hesitate …

and then it is dark again.

Psalm 119:130

The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.

Ephesians 5:8

For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light ….

…

Words of Grace For Today

Moving into the Light should be a simple thing.

Just choose your steps on the path towards the Light, right?

But

the devil has also sorts of false lights,

luring us into dead

ends.

Of course, the Light of Christ requires more than just walking,

it requires right hearts and minds and spirits,

all which we are completely incapable of attaining on our own,

if ever,

really!

We need Christ to show us the way,

and even then

we need the Spirit to transform our hearts, minds, and spirits so that we can follow.

And still we fail.

So Christ comes

into our darkness

and brings the Light

to guide us

onward.

So we hope we will live in the Light

…

but we know from the past we will choose to wander

back into the darkness all too soon (like right now)

and

Christ will need to come again

and again

and

again … ad infinitum.

Visions and Realities

Friday, November 24, 2023

Visions of Grace,

Brighter in the Darkness of Our Realities,

Than the Moon on a Clear Winter Night.

Zechariah 13:9

And I will put this third into the fire, refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’

Revelation 21:3-4

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’

…

Words of Grace For Today

The day is coming, when …

The day is coming, when will it come?!

The day is coming, when death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more!

When will it come!!?

That is a vision of God’s promises brought to completion for us all.

Meanwhile the realities we face are obvious:

It is as if we are in the smelters cup, over the fire, dross (which we have so dearly accumulated and attached ourselves to) is burning off, and we are poured into moulds of things precious and of use …

well,

of use to God, and maybe not to our worldly ways of evaluating things.

The realities of our daily lives are challenging to say the least, just to survive

God’s saints

pulled and pushed and cajoled and seduced by temptations to trust not in God’s good graces, but rather in our own efforts to secure life for ourselves.

Thank heaves we have visions

of God walking with us,

among us,

working for us,

completing some of the Promises God makes each day,

also this day.

Knowing From Whence

Sunday, November 19, 2023

No Matter The Obstacles,

God Clears the Way to the Light

Malachi 2:7

For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

1 Peter 3:15

… but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an account of the hope that is in you ….

…

Words of Grace For Today

As the days wear us down,

closer to the grave each day

assisted by the evil of other people

directed at us

or just spewed into the universe around us all

are given hope

that does not fail.

Then when the testing days arrive yet again, we are ready to provide an account of whence comes our hope:

The steadfast love and grace of God,

that carries us when we are down and

guides us in days of joy

to celebrate what is of ultimate value,

not this world’s

but

God’s great gifts.

Gimme, Gimme

Make Meself Safe and Secure! ?

Saturday, November 18, 2023

What Will We Endure To Give

Our Enemies Peace?

Psalm 33:17-18

The war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save. Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love …

Philippians 3:3

For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh ….

…

Words of Grace For Today

In what do we put our trust and hope?

In money, privilege, and might?

The war horse looks strong. It will indeed aid the killing of many enemies.

And then what?

Winning a war is never a solution. It only changes and most often multiplies the problems.

The deeds, by which we are known as followers of Christ, have always been of sacrificial love. Helping in plagues ensuring one’s own infection and death. Working as caregivers on the battlefields and in the poorest of poor areas of life. Loving one’s enemies so completely that they capitulate to join in loving their enemies, for that is life, where hating one’s enemies is death, even if one continues to walk the earth.

So in what will we put our trust this day?

Our Measure of God

As If!?

Friday, November 17, 2023

Is Our Measure Ever Any Better At Reaching the Light of Life,

than counting our steps in the snow?

Isaiah 55:8

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:25

For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

…

Words of Grace For Today

That God’s thoughts and human thoughts are not the same is obvious, and quite a relief, if you think about it.

If God were to think like humans, with all the evil and shtako humans come up with, we would be in great jeapordy, and that not just as we are now from other humans (ourselves included), but from God. With God’s power that threat would be unbearable, un-survivable, and deadly, even if God did not act out the threats.

When we apply a measure to our wisdom and compare it to our measure of God’s foolishness, that of sacrificing Jesus on the Cross to save all people, if our heads are not buried in the sand or some place else, then we will quickly notice that we humans have a hard time measuring ourselves with any measure that would recognize the greatest power in what we call the greatest weakness, ie. surrendering to death our of love for those doing the killing.

And that is what is so spectacular about Jesus’ story, told over and over, from generation to generation. We start to recognize the sinfulness of our measuring the world, confessing that sin and it’s horrible consequences for all, and turn to God begging for mercy,

for mercy,

for mercy.

We are left each day begging, thanking God for God’s great generosity in forgiving us and renewing life in us (yet again, and again, and …), and learning to sing God’s melodies and harmonies of love and life abundant for all – made possible through our sacrifices.

What’s your measure for today?