The interplay of darkness and light speaks a universal language of mystery, hope, and the spiritual power that always begins small. No wonder we light candles in this holy season.

I have the privilege of attending several services of Lessons & Carols in these Advent weeks. We gather in sacred spaces, tell sacred stories, and sing songs of great beauty, to remind ourselves of God’s coming to us in vulnerability—as a light shining in darkness that the darkness cannot overcome.

In a brief moment of quiet and darkness, I light a candle and say my prayers for those I love and for those whose suffering I can only imagine, haunted by the photograph of a father fleeing his homeland with a frightened child in his arms (from the front page of the Washington Post, December 5, 2012). Let your light shine, O God, in this darkness. And help us all to be bearers of that light.

Today, I give thanks for the gift of children and the light that shines through them. How can we not have hope when children sing?

Bishop Mariann visited St. Columba’s Nursery School on Wednesday, December 5, 2012. See a clip from her visit here.

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