I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I pray that as Christmas draws near, we are able to slow down and savor this time of year. I pray we can savor the smells, tastes, sounds, and sights. May we see God in the beautiful details around us. May we know how God’s peace, hope, joy, and love are working in our lives and in the world.

We know that there is still a lot of difficulty and darkness, a lot of sorrow and despair in our world. But, we also know and trust that Christ is the light of the world. Christ shines into all of the mess and is not overcome by the darkness. That is such a wonderful and hopeful statement – Christ is not overcome by the darkness. So, we can trust in God’s light. We can follow God’s light. We know that God’s light is always shining. May we have our eyes open to see God and God’s light.

I also pray for our new year – that we will have a happy new year. I pray our new year is filled with moments of God’s love showing up in our lives. I pray that we will have the courage to narrate the stories of how God is with us – that we can speak or write these stories and share them with others. Our world is hungry for that light, and so let us tell how we see God’s light and how we have experienced God’s light.

And may God bless us all with God’s steadfast love and abundant mercy!