Friday, November 15, 2013

Warm us up!

"Come unto Him and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be ashamed." This line from a hymn at the close of Divine Liturgy this morning was being sung at the same time sunshine beaming through the window reflected off the floor and shined on me, blinding me for a few moments.

It was lovely to have a sunny morning for the beginning of our Nativity fast, and I was blessed to be free to participate. There weren't many of us, so we fit easily into our little church, and the two women who were surprised to compose the whole choir did valiantly.

Our priest exhorted us to join together in zealousness, as the epistle reading from Colossians also conveyed to us the apostle's prayer, that our hearts might "be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

And he reminded us that just as the body cannot exist without the head, nor the head without the body, so Christ and His Church always go together, and in this Advent period we are helped by our joint efforts in making use of the gifts of fasting and prayer, to prepare our hearts to receive, in about 40 days, the mystery of God With Us.

I want to remember, I want to live by the reality of the light of Christ shining in my soul. When the light from the created sun is so thin that it doesn't have much effect on my earthly body, it's still an encouraging sight and teaches me about intangible realities. Dear God, warm us all up!

8 comments:

Gumbo Lily said...

How perfect that the Light of the World is celebrated in the darkest days of the year.

Farm Girl said...

I think that is so wonderful to have your thoughts and mind on that this time of year. Thank you for sharing that.

melissa said...

Beautiful. The photograph as well as the post.

Sheila said...

Hello! I just found your comment on my blog and am happy that the poast brought you special memories. I am not Orthodox (though I am quite orthodox) but was considering joining the fast that my capital-O Orthodox friend told me about yesterday. Finding this, I am taking it as a sign and am off the fence with my decision. As you may have seen in my comment on Pentimento's blog, my time for extra reading is limited these days, but I am going to bookmark this enlightening place and will be back when I can.

Thistle Cove Farm said...

Gretchen, your photo is amazing, so beautiful! We agree, Lord, warm us with your love.

Mandy said...

This is beautiful. Thank you.

Cathy said...

His peace and light to you.

I can not imagine a life without knowing Christ Jesus, in whom "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge".

Anita said...

I want to remember these beautiful words for Advent.