I’m praying at my daughter’s school today for a interfaith service of light. Here’s a shot at it:
It’s a familiar phrase: There is light at the end of the tunnel.
But sometimes, O God, that tunnel is so dark and so endless. Those who are sick and in pain, they feel this tunnel. Those who live in lands and neighborhoods of poverty and violence, they know this tunnel, too. Each of us also experiences different kinds of tunnels in our everyday lives: the tunnel of homework, of not fitting in, of broken friendships, of different-ness. Can there really be a light at the end of all this?
Yes.
This season, Lord of light and hope, reminds us there there will always be light. We bring flame to candles to remind of ourselves and others of this. We plug in strings of bulbs and wrap them around trees and doors and fireplaces and bushes and windows so that we never forget that there will always be light.
These are temporary lights, but they spark memories of times when we knew and saw and felt that you were that light in our hearts. You are that light in our hearts. You are that light in those tunnels of sickness, poverty, and violence. Shine fiercely, God of all the nations, so that those who experience tunnels can know that you are as present as breath. Shine fiercely and inspire us to be lights that wrap around our city, never to be ignored or forgotten. Amen.