LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

I had to share this with you.

I very rarely read my Parish leaflet ( I am ashamed to say!). However the title of this one - see above - caught my eye! 

This is was the introduction by our Vicar Judy French. Who for those who have every watched the wonderful t.v. series 'The Vicar of Dibley' is a slimmer version of Dawn!

" The dark mornings have come as quite a shock. I had got quite used to getting up in the daylight! As the daylight hours become shorter, and the dark hours longer, we pause to reflect on the winter ahead of us. How can we keep going through the dark and cold, especially if we are going through tough times.

The rescue of the Chiliean miners seems to have involved  a lot of faith and hard work. How hard it must have been for them and their families to keep praying, and not to lose heart, but to keep believing they would be rescued, that would emerge alive after so long trapped underground. What a dreadful ordeal. One of the miners when he emerged on the surface is reported to have said "I was with God and the Devil;  I fought the Devil and won." He didnt give  up or give in!

Jesus told us a parable to encourage us to keep praying and never loose heart. It was about a widow who wanted justice, but the judge was not the slightest bit interested in her case.  But she was so persistent and badgered him so much that he finally gave in and gave her what she wanted. Isnt that what  prayer feels like so often?  There we are hammering away at God's door and apparently not getting answer. Jesus doesn't solve the mystery of answered and unanswered prayers. He just says 'Keep praying and never loose heart.  I will come.'

Faith is not only about telling God what is on our wish-list, but about constantly lifting up every joy and concern, every fear and doubt, every lament and plea to the One who hears and answers.  Answers may not come when or how we think they should but Jesus insists 'God will help, he will not delay, he will grant justice.'  Our prayers are not simply a list of unanswered pleas, rather, they are a way for us to take part in what God is already doing to make things right. Living in hope, we work, we pray, in whatever ways we can for the peace and justice that will come to us and the world. Our prayer, our hope, may at times seem like a candle flickering feebly in the darkness, but as St John reassures us. 'The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.'

KEEP THE FAITH GUYS, KEEP THE FAITH!

<3 <3 <3

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