Dear Calvary friends,
What a terrific morning we had last Sunday! Even on a gray wet morning we still had 72 hearty souls gather for morning worship! Thank each one of you for making the effort to be at church this past Sunday. Your presence makes a difference!
Gray days like these are natural for this time of year. However, they can add up and when there are several overcast days in a row, one can wonder when they will ever see the sun again. Speaking of clouds, there is a silver lining though. It can be an opportunity to get home sooner and gear down because of it getting dark earlier. Any way you look at it, people do not care too much for a long time stretched out with nothing but clouds overhead. Sometimes people’s “blahs” are contagious. This is when it is important to exercise, talk with friends, and get out during the day to keep our brain chemistry positive.
I remember being in London once visiting friends for a week. We had made tons of plans and were hoping to visit several art museums and churches. We managed to do only a few of those things, because the London rain was persistent and went along for the ride every single day. Seeing my friends again was great, but I felt disappointed that I had come all that way only to be met with a week of English dank weather.
That last morning I boarded the plane to fly home from Heathrow Airport sitting down in a window seat looking out at the glistening tarmac. As we taxied to the runway drops of water streaked across the outside of the window. Soon after we were airborne and the lights of the city below had faded, all you could see were dense clouds. Not much to look at since the light had just gone from dim to dark.
Then the clouds turned a lighter shade of gray, then white, and then we broke through the top of it all and were in the clear sunlight. When you haven’t seen the sun for a week and then you are seeing it from every horizon it is one of the most beautiful sights on the planet!
This Christmas 2023 comes amid cloudy days and cloudy times in many places of the world. If Christmas came in the middle of summer, we might take God’s hope for salvation more for granted. However, the Light of the World is coming and it’s just beyond the clouds we contend with on a daily basis over the course of winter’s harsher realities.
If what you are seeing most of the time is a dimly lit day or if you are feeling disappointment with plans being changed beyond your control, then please remember that there is a light beyond the clouds. The Light of Christ is 24/7 while clouds come and go.
Please bring someone to church this Sunday with you as we celebrate the Light of the World, that distant holy star, drawing closer. Our Calvary kiddos will be leading us at the beginning of worship with a new and amazing Christmas play. Our Calvary kids will be leading us through the clouds and into the Light. Please come to find a seat by 9:45 and plan to stay just a few minutes longer than usual. Yule be glad you did!
Blessings,
Fr. Jon
