ADVENT 4: Monday: God Replies, Thank you for bearing the light

We may say, <Thank you for this Advent journey. The anticipation has filled my life and made me long for a closer relationship with you.> and God replies, <Blessed are you who bear the light through unbearable times, who testify to its endurance amid the unendurable, who bear witness to its persistence when everything seems in shadow and grief. Blessed are you in whom the light lives, in whom the brightness blazes—your heart a chapel, an altar where in the deepest night can be seen, the fire that shines forth in you in unaccountable faith, in stubborn hope, in love that illumines every broken thing it finds. – Jan Richardson>

ADVENT 3: Wednesday: Let Your Light So Shine

When one is in love with God, one becomes like a person who used to travel the town lighting street lamps at dusk. In olden days, there was a person in every town who would light the street-lamps with a light he carried at the end of a long pole. On the street-corners, the lamps were there in readiness, waiting to be lit; sometimes, however, the lamps were not as easily accessible. There were lamps in forsaken places, in deserts, or at sea. There must be someone to light even those lamps, so that they may fulfill their purpose and light up the paths of others. It is written, "Our soul is the candle of God." It is also written, "A good deed is a candle, and the love of God is light." A follower of God is one who puts personal affairs aside and sets out to light up the souls of all with the light of the love of God and with good deeds. Souls are ready and waiting to be kindled. Sometimes they are close, nearby; sometimes they are in a desert, or at sea. There must be someone who will forgo his or her own comforts and conveniences, and reach out to light those lamps. This is the function of a true lover of God. This is the lesson of the Gospel.

- Adapted from a public talk by the Lubavitcher Rebbe