As you reflect on Advent, where have you experienced both darkness and light?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by God, and without God nothings came to be.
What came to be through God was life, and this life was the light of the world.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
. . . .
If you have four candles, gather them and prepare to light them one at a time with a pause of silence in between. If you have gathered with someone else, perhaps you want to share the memories that surface…
. . . .
First Candle:
Remember those whom we have loved and lost.
Pause to name them, remember their face, their voice, and conjure a memory.
Thank you for the gift of these people.
Take our sad hearts and our ache and bring us Holy Comfort.
Second Candle:
Remember the pain of loss: loss of relationships, jobs,
health, faith, even the loss of joy.
We offer this pain to You. Into our open hands, place the gift of peace.
Third Candle:
Remember ourselves and what we have endured this year.
The times we have fallen short, the times we have been overwhelmed by the darkness, when we struggled to trust, when we were directionless.
Lord, be our guide and grant us reassurance that we are on the right path.
Direct us if we are not.
Fourth Candle:
Remember our faith and the hope that the Christmas story offers us.
The light of God always shines regardless of circumstances.
Where there is light and love, teach us to seek it;
may it be this light and love that we offer the world around us.
Amen.