Dear St. Margaret’s Family and Friends,

I often find myself at this time of year with mixed emotions and looking for reassuring messages that all is well with the world. The Christmas and holiday season is clearly a special time for a variety of reasons. While each of us approaches the season in ways consistent with our own religious and cultural backgrounds, there are nevertheless important aspects of the holiday season that are common to most of us. Time with family is a central theme for many and even as the magic of the season changes as our children get older, the value of these moments together becomes even more precious as we are reminded that these special times don’t last forever.

Of course, the holiday season is not always one of joy and merriment for everyone. For those dealing with personal hardships or even tragedies, the conflict of emotions can be very painful. At a time when all indicators point to happiness and joy, the realities of life unfortunately fall short for some. These situations test our faith and present significant challenges to the manner in which we look at our lives and the world around us.

Some time ago, I came across an article by Judith Brown, the poetry editor of Friends Journal, entitled “A Seasonal Meditation.” Ms. Brown is a Quaker and her perspective is unmistakably Christian, but what she has to say has, I believe, universal application at this time of year. Her point is that the light that shone so brightly in Bethlehem when Jesus was born 2011 years ago provided a sense of hope and a promise for the future for all humankind. “It is exciting to think that the Light that shone in that stable, the Light that glowed around the angels singing, was so bright as to dim the stars in the same sky with it. It came at the darkest time of the year, the time of the winter solstice. A light shone out to assure the shepherds that something good, not something to be feared, was entering the world.”

Indeed, many faiths around the world celebrate with a tribute to light and a promise for the future. The Jewish Festival of Lights or Hanukkah commemorates the miraculous eight-day burning of the oil at the time of the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Hindus celebrate Diwali, Festival of Lights, designed to ward off the darkness and welcome light into peoples’ lives. There is a common theme here, a theme central to many faiths and especially to Episcopal beliefs (and schools) where the search for truth and peace is connected to an acknowledgment that the light of God shines faithfully and constantly in each of us. It is hopeful, optimistic and reassuring even in the most difficult of times and it suggests that each of us has the capacity to be guided by the wisdom that comes from within, by the ongoing revelations of God in our being, as we navigate the spiritual journey of our lives.

As you and your families celebrate in these long and dark days of the winter solstice, my hope is that the lights in your lives will burn so brightly as to dim the stars and point the way to peace and happiness in this Christmas and holiday season and throughout the coming year.

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