Dear Congregation,
This Sunday the purple Advent candle of PEACE will be lit by Joan Campagna and Graham Bryan. We certainly long for peace, so very aware of the lack of peace in our world today. The daily news shares in detail the horrors of war in Israel and Gaza, Ukraine, and other countries. Yet another mass shooting has just occurred, this time at the University of Nevada. Domestic violence deaths and shootings in Miami and nearby communities shatter lives.
And so, we remember that last Sunday we began Advent with Judy and Wally Carlson lighting the first Advent candle of HOPE. We are called to be people of hope, not to give up on the belief that peace IS possible.
We are called to recognize the reality that for there to be peace there must be justice. Remember the slogan “No justice, no peace; Know justice, Know Peace.” We must do what we can, as individuals and as a church to work for that justice in Advent and always.
Please join me in this prayer. God, Creator of perfect peace, open our hearts and minds to the potential of peace in our time. Give us the dreams and visions that will move us and those around us toward peace. Fill us with the energy and resolve to make a difference in our world to those near and far. Amen.
I hope you are in worship Sunday, in person or on Facebook, for the lighting of the Peace candle as we pray together for Peace.
In the Peace of Christ.
Pastor Candy
click here to download this week's newsletter!“Into the Darkest Hour” by Madelyn L’Engle
It was a time like this,
War & tumult of war,
a horror in the air.
Hungry yawned the abyss-
and yet there came the star
and the child most wonderfully there.
It was time like this
of fear & lust for power,
license & greed and blight-
and yet the Prince of bliss
came into the darkest hour
in quiet & silent light.
And in a time like this
how celebrate his birth
when all things fall apart?
Ah! Wonderful it is
with no room on the earth
the stable is our heart.