Defy the darkness

“Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”

                                                              Anne Frank

Endure the injustice and take the opportunity to put the extravagant love of Christ’s Kingdom into practice; bring the audacious and everlasting love of God into the daylight and dazzle those whose eyes have never seen or imagined such overwhelming and sincere love. This is how we change the world. This is how we transform our enemies into friends. This is how we end the violence. This is how we push back the darkness – not with more darkness – but with true, undeniable light; the light that only comes from God.  If the best we can do is take an eye for an eye, we will never escape this world of blindness.

                                                              Keith Giles (Our Christless Christianity)

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What do we do in times like this?

We know the litany of ills

The exclusion of the needy from our shores

The neglect and oppression of the poor and vulnerable

The proliferation of lies

The rise of hate

The destruction of the earth

We know them all to well

They are encroaching darkness

That threatens to smother us

And rob us of sight

And sound

And feeling

Leaving us

With nothing

Our hearts pound

Our heads scream with a thousand voices

As we are consumed by it all

And yet

And yet

And yet

We believe

Not in the power of the darkness

But in the power of the light

And we

Beloved children of God

Spirit carriers

Precious souls

Are the candle

We defy the darkness

For blown by the Spirit

Consumed by the flame of Sacred love

Through us sacred love

flames out (like shining from shook foil)  (Hopkins)

and we

by how we live

By how we accept and welcome

By our kindness and caring

By our generosity and service

By our love

Reveal the darkness for what it is

We define it as small

Empty and ugly

Powerful but powerless to defeat

And we shine on

Pushing back the darkness

Bringing “the audacious and everlasting love of God

into the daylight”

destroying the darkness with overwhelming and sincere love.

Bringing sight to the blind

Giving voice to hope

Thawing the frozen heart

We do this

We

One by one

Gathered

We shine on

With the “true, undeniable light; the

light that only comes from God”

and darkness define

and darkness defied

the kingdom comes