Greet the Light

Spiritual Practices for Eastertide – Monday, April 12, 2022

Victor Bregeda – Communion

Preparing for Eastertide

Though there will be offerings of hope throughout the 50 days spanning from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, it’s good to prepare our hearts, souls and minds for the journey ahead. 

Last week we did the Stations of the Cross. This week we will focus on the light and darkness of death and resurrection with small simple practices. 

Peace and Blessings
Marcie 

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Tushar Singhla – The Flame

Greet the Light 

Years ago, I started a practice of greeting the light. At the time, all was dark in my world. My mother died from lung cancer. Shortly after, my nephew died by suicide. And before anyone in my family could catch their breath, my niece died after overdosing on heroin. 

I was convinced that all light had left the world. I was convinced that the sun was not the sun, but an imposter and a trickster. I was convinced that the flicker of any flame was proof that all light was an illusion, a warmth that pretended to be powerful but could easily be blown out by the softest exhale. 

It was the closest I’ve come to what Jesus might have felt like when he knew his days were numbered and no one—not even his closest friends—would understand or be there with him in the darkness. 

Then one day, I heard an interview on On Being with Brother David Steindl-Rast. He spoke about gratefulness in such a way that I felt a kind light spark within me—a light that was not  fraudulent, a light that could not ever be extinguished by the exhales of life. 

I decided to find out more about Brother David and stumbled upon gratefulness.org. There I found a page of light—millions of candles—lit from all over the world. 

During this movement from life to death to life that Easter brings us, we also move from light to darkness to light. And so, I invite you to light a virtual candle. 

And if you can, early one morning, greet the light of a sunrise. Let it remind you that though it is fickle with its warmth, it is constant in its reminder that no matter how dark our tombs, there will be light again. 

Jesus might have felt deserted by his friends in the garden, and through his trial and execution. But he was not alone in that darkness. His gratefulness for the smallest things led him to the light that would greet him three days later. The light was in the small, gratuitous moments: Simon shouldering the cross with him; the women of Jerusalem weeping for him; John the Beloved One continuing to care for Mary for him; and even the Thief entering paradise with him, that helped Jesus to see his way back to us. 

The only way to overcome darkness its to willingly go into its deepest caves, not relying on the torchlight that can be blown out, but trusting the luminous gratuitous light that can only be lit from within. 

Selah. 

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Altars of Light

by Pierre Joris

Altars of Light by Pierre Joris 

If the light is the soul 
then soul is what's 
all around me.

It is you, 
it is around you too, 
it is you.

The darkness is inside me, 
the opaqueness of organs folded 
upon organs—

to make light in the house of
the body—
     thus to bring the
outside in,
     the impossible job.

   And the only place to become
the skin
   the border, the inbetween, where
dark meets light, where I meets
   you.

   In the house of world the 
many darknesses are surrounded 
by light.

   To see the one, we need 
the other / it cuts both ways

   light on light is blind 
   dark on dark is blind

   light through dark is not

   dark through light is movement
   dark through light becomes,
is becoming,
     to move through
light is becoming,

   is all
     we can know.

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Benediction 

O Spacious God, have mercy on us.
O Creator hear us. 

O Lady Wisdom, have mercy on us. 
O Spirit, hear us. 

O The Anointed Son, have mercy on us.
O Christ, hear us. 

Amen

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This is a communal practice. Please feel welcome to add your prayers, thoughts, questions or reflections in the comments below. 

Shalom.