"Christ the Light of the World"

Thomas Kinkade

"'If you are past 35, you surely grieve something.

If nothing else, you simply grieve for the passing of time...

for the helplessness of knowing that tragedy can occur instantly

and without warning',

writes southern novelist Vicki Covington.

Pastor and teacher Dr. Gary Klingsporn wrote,

'Only a Christ who comes into 

and shares our tears....

only that Christ can really speak meaningfully to us today.

Christ is born into whatever it is that we feel.

He comes not as a predictable hero,

but as a vulnerable child.

From the Messiah in a manger

to the King on a cross,

this is the mystery of the incarnation--

that into such a world of need,

into such a world as ours,

God whispered His profound love.

And He whispers it yet today.' 

O God who entered time and eternity

as a crying infant...

 be present in my tears.

I lay before You all that burdens my heart

even as I listen for the singing of angels."

I must strain to hear the singing of angels today.

The paralyzing screams of children threaten to drown out 

the joyous message the angels proclaim.

But I choose to remember

amidst the nightmarish pain of this world

that Christ came into

this world.

Emmanuel...

God-with-us...

"Oh God-who-walks-alongside-us...

comfort deeply

be the Light in the weighted darkness of this day

in the strong and sure name of Jesus I pray

Amen.