The Rev. Canon Anne E. Kitch
Canon for Ministry Formation and Transitions
By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Luke 1:78-79
In the midst of my morning routine it dawns on me that the light from the rising sun is illuminating the underside of the clouds and I feel my heart lift and a “Thank you,” escapes my lips. Yesterday the cloud cover kept the day in a gloom that seemed to seep into my core. I had to lift my voice against it, calling in reinforcements as I asked a friend to send some laughter and good spirits my way.
For some reason this year I am more viscerally aware of the shortening of the days and find myself if not quite alarmed at least cross. What is it like, I have been wondering, to live in a part of the world where days are even shorter? Or at a time when full spectrum light bulbs were not an option?
God’s people have been faithful for generations of generations, and in as many landscapes as the world has to offer. In times of stress and times of laughter. In the darkness and in the light and in the uncertain and undetermined. I do not walk or wait or yearn alone, but I am in the midst of this faithfulness, one of the many who anticipate the outpouring of God’s loving-kindness upon all. The Dawn from on high. The Morning Star. The Light of the world. Emmanuel.