from Lutherans Connect

Image by Alfonso Romay
https://www.flickr.com/…/tochis/3138349148/in/photostream/

Come Holy Darkness

December 3rd to January 6th

~ from a post dated November 26, 2003 on the Lutherans Connect Facebook page

During Advent, we experience the season of darkness, the darkest time of the year. It is here that the Christian tradition has chosen to anchor the story of the birth of Jesus, despite that Scripture does not tell us what time of year he was born. The arrival of Jesus has become associated in our traditon with “light in the world.” And yet, we know from the story of Creation in Genesis 1, reimagined in John 1, that Jesus was also there at the formation of the world, “when darkness covered the face of the deep.”

How can we invite Jesus to be a part of the darkness as much as the light? One way is to dwell with Creation as an essential expression of the goodness of God. Celtic traditions of spirituality and Celtic Christianity celebrate darkness as much as they also rejoice in light. As we journey together through Advent darkness, Celtic spirituality and Celtic Christianity can help us find the goodness that is already present abundantly — in the darkness, in the light, and in all of the wondrous colours of Creation. The progression through Advent to the birth of Jesus, followed by the days of Christmastide leading to Epiphany carry stories of darkness and light in relationship to each other. How can our faith be renewed by these stories, as we also celebrate the incarnation of Jesus as one of us?

Join us daily from December 3rd to January 6th as we explore the Celtic love of Creation that celebrates God’s goodness at all times of the night and day. Using images, scripture, music, art, and in this series the natural life of creatures, we will reconnect to the world God made and of which we are a part. May we hear in Creation the echo of our own heartbeat, which God made and which Jesus embodied.

These devotions can be accessed from the Lutherans Connect Facebook page or their blog.

About Lutherans Connect:

Lutherans Connect is an online portal for devotional projects with an ecumenical reach.  Begun in association with Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto in 2008, now, in 2023, Lutherans Connect has evolved over the years into its own dedicated ministry which publishes devotionals in relationship to the seasons of the church and the times in between.  Recently, the Lutherans Connect devotional ministry has come under the auspices of the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College in Waterloo, Ontario.  The Lutherans Connect online devotional projects are supported by Martin Luther University College and the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, through its Mission Committee partnerships.