Dim sanctuary...small devotional candles encircle the room...waves of incense lifting prayers to the heighths...voices singing clear psalm tones...silence held between scripture readings...praise, intercession, thanksgiving, blessing...
Evening Prayer this third week of Advent...a group of your children, gracious God, gathering together away from the escalating tempo that the retailers would have us hear. We step away from our preparations and the onset of celebrations with coworkers and neighbors...a holy huddle as we incline our ears and our hearts toward the promise of your nativity.
This year of Advent Sabbatical, my "Evening Prayer" took place in a congregation where I know only a few people -- but I am drawn into intimacy with them. For 45 minutes we are of one clear mind...all thoughts, spoken and unspoken, are focused upon the light of Christ. This light is mystical. Although our eyes see a single light radiating from the Christ candle, our hearts and souls see the immense light of the One who pierces the darkness of the world.
I climb back into my pickup truck and travel back home. The strains of the prayer service weave their way from evening prayer to the moments in the middle of the night when I shift in my bed and, my mind "awakens".
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord...my spirit rejoices in God my savior."
Amen.
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