The last time I wrote for this was before the first lockdown – what a roller-coaster this has been and continues to be!
I was spending time in the early morning quietly praying and carrying out my morning devotions when the lights all suddenly went out. Bother!
Thankfully, I always light a little tealight for this time of devotion that sits in a holder with a quote from Julian of Norwich: ‘Our faith is our light in darkness and this light is God our endless day’.
In the tiny light that my little tealight emitted I focused on the amazing power that little light now had as the only source of illumination.
It was a little pilot light of hope and it also had the power to ignite some further candles that then enabled my quiet time to proceed in relative ease as I could again read my Bible and write in my journal. My little tealight that daily reminds me that Jesus, light of the world, is always in our midst, just waiting for the invitation to join in with us.
Jesus, light of the world, who came to us as God incarnate in the form of a human, wants to continue to light our darkness; the darkness of shorter days, a pandemic, the loss of life, the loss of livelihoods, the loss of peace, the loss of meaning.
The Christian faith of knowing and trusting Jesus Christ is just one step away for any of us. Just like me striking the match to ignite my little light, a step of acceptance towards Jesus will ignite your pilot light and he will burn brightly and powerfully in your darkness and your pilot light will ignite the candles of hope for others around you also.
In the words of the children’s song: ‘This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine – let it shine, let it shine, let it shine’.
May your life be illumined by the light of Christ this Christmas and always. May you find the peace, strength and comfort that countless others do on a daily basis as they tap into the pilot light of Christ - strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.
Have a blessed Christmas in every way possible.
Every blessing,
Rachel Foster