“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16
As the Winter Solstice (the longest night) approaches, we also enter the week of Advent often associated with joy. And so a poem about the sun, as we await the Son. This simple verse calls us to carry the light as joy within our days. In our waiting, may we share joy.
What simple act brings joy to you? To another? Find joy this day and for another too. A five-minute walk around the building to take in the brisk air; an extra coffee brought to a friend; a note written to a child; a picture texted to a sibling; a donation dropped off at the coat drive; singing to that song a bit longer with the windows down in the car; reading an extra verse and sharing it with a friend.
What can you think of to share your warmth and bring Christ to another as we await his birth as one family? Is that not the joy we wake early to share?
Why I Wake Early
by Mary Oliver
Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and crotchety–
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light–
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
Submitted by Trish Dowd Kelne
Prayer
Thank you God for the Joy of Your Son; may we share it and be filled. In your name, with gratitude, Amen.
Oliver, Mary. Why I Wake Early, Beacon Press Books, 2004, pg 1