“This is the gift that God holds out to us in this season:
to carry the light, but also to see in the dark,
and to find the shapes of things in the shadows.”

– Jan L. Richardson, in Night Visions

This space between Thanksgiving and Christmas is my favorite time of year, but one that still brings memories of grief. Advent begins the first Sunday after November 30th, which is my birthday. In 1975 I had just finished celebrating my 18th birthday when the phone call came. My grandfather had died. He was like a guardian angel to me, and would put himself between me and whoever was upsetting me, then try and talk everyone down. As a kid, I was never very good at calm and grounded, and Papa was a big help. I’m still deeply grateful he was around until I was of legal age. He would have been 100 this year.

Even though lately I am somewhat more adept at holding life’s pain and joy simultaneously, it’s not always an easy task. We’re all in the same boat when it comes to managing life’s mixed messages – each year bringing another 365 days of experience to integrate – so I offer this quote, which for many years has been a locus from which to see my way toward preparing a way without denying the often bewildering realities of life.

“This is the gift that God holds out to us in this season:
to carry the light, but also to see in the dark,
and to find the shapes of things in the shadows.”

– Jan L. Richardson, in Night Visions