Our God,
On days like today it is hard to remember the light. Cold, Gray, rainy… It seems to be a mantra this time of year – showing us the fifty shades of gray that accompany us through the winter.
The darkness increases the hunger for spring – for light, for longer days and shorter nights, for something to tear a sliver in the clouds and to illuminate tired eyes.
But what happens if we enter into the gray and befriend it. Instead of trying to escape, we look for ways to celebrate the darkness, to find solace in the gloom, and be a source of light for others? Maybe then the poor and those who walk in darkness can see a great light. That this is the place where we have been called to serve and to celebrate and to find life. To reach out and touch someone, to find ways to crack the shades of gray and bring moments of grace and light to folks who have not only learned to tolerate the darkness but who have entered into it so completely that light never comes.
And so we ask that you would help us to be light bearers: today in a fifty shade of gray day and every day. That we may reflect to others your generosity and care and be a source of light for our community. Help us to serve each other and to have the courage to meet others in the midst of their pain and brokenness. Thank you for the light that is found in serving others.
Amen.