Shine Light/Light Shines: Candlemas and light bearers

It is Candlemas in the life of the Church, the day when we remember the presentation of Jesus to the priests in the Temple in fulfillment of Jewish laws of purification. Forty days after Christmas Day,  it also marks the end of the Cycle of Light in the Church and is the day we typically bless candles for use in our congregations and homes in the coming year.  

In some cultures this is the end of the Christmas season, so if your Christmas decorations are still up, now’s the time to sort and store them.  One year we actually did leave all of our decorations up until February 2nd and I didn’t hate it.  

There seems to be so little metaphorical light in the world of late.  We continue to mourn the injustices taking place throughout the world, but especially being committed by ICE.  We cannot grow immune to this ongoing, horrible story simply because of its heartbreaking length. And especially because we know that this will continue to happen unless we the people say we’ve had enough and then we vote.  I received an email from the City of Olympia reminding me to remind our people of what to do if they think they are seeing someone being detained by ICE.  Call the police who will come and can verify whether they have the proper warrants and keep the area secure so that we don’t end up with more innocent lives lost in the process.  Film if we feel safe.  But call 911 right away.  Olympia is a Sanctuary City and we do not participate or support this federal action.  Not even our law enforcement.  I am so glad to live here, but it doesn’t give me an excuse to isolate or check out. 

Okay.  I started talking about light and ended up talking about the forces of evil that defy all that is good in the world.  

What I want to invite us to on this day when we bless candles, is to remember that every one of us has the power to shine some light into someone’s life.  Every one of us.  That’s one of the ways we keep the darkness at bay.  

So, let me offer a couple of examples.  

Last week was an INSANE week in my work life.  Completely out of the blue, I was targeted for actions I did not take by a small but very vocal and very organized group of people who felt they were wronged.  To be clear, the action they took issue with didn’t happen to them.  They just thought they needed to respond without having all of the facts.  And they mistakenly thought that I had somehow single handedly made that happen.  And they then somehow thought that the way to address this was to a) engage in a public smear campaign against me and b) work through threats and intimidation.  So, yeah, that was fun.  

But, here’s my point:  when all of this went down, I was literally with some of my very best friends.  We were at a conference for preachers, which is actually way cooler than it might sound.   We’d been at this venue before and decided that we’d stay in an Airbnb and oh, my, it was a lovely home (at the most affordable price because it was January in Oregon) for us to gather in and settle with a cup of tea or a glass of wine.  And these friends could and did offer so much support and love and care and outrage and advice that what could have just seemed as overwhelming as the waves in the ocean( which I didn’t get to see because I was dealing with all of this)….lost some of its power.  

Friends are light bearers in the world. 

So are strangers.

Last night, I stopped by our local hardware store to pick up a propane tank for my fancy new fire table that I got for Christmas.  (I can’t wait to try it out; you should come over!)  Randi was the clerk’s name who waited on me.  She asked me if I had a rewards phone number and when mine didn’t work, she asked if there might be another.  Maybe my husband’s?  I said.  Bruce!  She replied when his number was entered successfully.  You should have sent him out to pick up this tank.  Well, I said, he died in May.  

I couldn’t help it.  I didn’t want her to feel badly, but I just don’t have it in me sometimes to dance around this terrible truth.  

Oh honey.  I’m so sorry.  

No, no….it’s fine.  No, it’s not fine, but it’s just reality.  

My husband’s been gone for twenty years.  

I’m so sorry.

And then she went on to say this:  Every day there’s something to figure out.  How to live without him.  How to eat alone.  How to zip up your own dress.  How to pick up the propane tank.  But you are here doing it, girl!  You are here buying the propane tank, fully clothed, and you look like you’re eating okay, and you just told me what happened.  You have got this.  

Strangers can be light bearers.  Randi was. 

You know who else is bearing light?  Every person who is protesting the evil, every person who is supporting the families who are afraid to go to work or school.  Every person who utters a prayer for justice.  Every person who says the names of Renee Good and Alex Peretti.  Light bearers.  Each one.  

At that preaching conference we sang This Little Light of Mine.  Maybe you know this song.  (Although we left out the hide it under a bushel verse and I was sad about that).  There we were, a room full of anxious, overworked, stressed out preachers….singing and dancing and holding our fingers up in the air.  Pointing, perhaps without realizing it, to the One who is the light of the world.  The One whom the darkness has not and will not overcome.  

Shine your light, dear ones, and feel the light shining back on you!  And blessings to you on this Candlemas.  You are loved.  You are light. 

I begin each morning by lighting a candle and offering prayers. It's sitting on some books I have yet to read; books also bear light.