On Thursday, May 18th at 6:30 pm we will have the Ascension Day Service. Instead of having it in the church, I would like to have it in the parish hall. It would involve having a short conversation about the readings, then communion, followed by a simple dinner. This might be a prelude to having a service during the week that is short, with communion, and followed by a simple dinner. I invite you to try it. We won’t know until we try it.

This Morning Prayer’s Gospel is Luke 8:16-25. Jesus tells the disciples that no one lights a candle and then hides it. In our own context that would be like turning on our living room lamp and then sticking it in the closet and closing the closet door while you remained in the living room, and wondering why you or your guests couldn’t see.

The candle in the passage is light but also it represents Jesus, the truth and love of God, and the light God gives to the world in and through that love. It is the light that leads us into safety so that we don’t stumble and leads us out of darkness so that we don’t cause others to stumble. The candlelight illuminates our visible humanness to others and allows us to reach out to others for relationship. When it is concealed, bad things happen, and can happen in the dark, in the void. In the dark, we assume things about ourselves and others. What we don’t know, see, or experience, especially of others, we generally make up, and fear reigns and diminishes any possibility of right relationship. The light of Christ, God’s love, masters the darkness and calms the storms.