Dear friends -
At this time of year, there are a few days each week, Tom and I leave the house in darkness and return in darkness in the evening. Those mornings, we don't even bother to open the blinds before we leave. Blech! With winter right around the corner - starting this year on Wednesday, December 21 - I have been thinking of darkness as a gift, though. After all, it's in the darkness of the ground that the seed begins to sprout, and often it is in great difficulty that our greatest transformation happens. I ran across a list from two Benedictine sisters, Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr, that names "Kinds of Enriching Darkness" from their book, The Circle of Life: the Heart's Journey Through the Seasons. The list includes the following: "nurturing darkness, comforting darkness, sheltering darkness, restful darkness, restorative darkness, protective darkness, supporting darkness, love-making darkness, tender darkness, soft, gentle darkness, clarifying darkness, emancipating darkness, transforming darkness." These are beautiful ways God works in spaces of darkness.
Our Longest Night Prayer Service (Zoom Link) on Wednesday night is a way to acknowledge both the challenges of difficult times but also the nurturing wholeness that God works in the midst of darkness. I hope you'll join us. If you are unable to attend at 5 pm, drop me an email, and I'll send out a link to the recording, so you can share in prayers at a later time.
May you experience God's goodness, hope, and wholeness even in these long days.
Grace and peace,
Jess