Joyfully give thanks to the Holy One,
who has enabled you to share in the light
all God’s beloved ones inherit.
God has rescued us from the power of darkness
and transferred us into the realm of the Beloved,
in whom our sins are forgiven
and our lives are made complete.
—Colossians 1.12-14
The darkness is real.
But we are rescued from its power.
Light shines in us, shining in that dark,
light we do not earn and cannot keep,
but passes to us like the color of our eyes,
shining from the Beloved within us,
forgiving our darkness by filling us with light,
light of Creation that gives life.
In the night the light shines.
In the darkness the light rules.
In the deep darkness we give thanks.
We are not to generate the light
but to receive it.
We are not to vanquish the darkness,
but to shine in it.
We see the darkness without flinching.
We look the darkness in its dark eye,
and we are true to the light,
the light within us.
We pray that we may lead lives
worthy of our light.