DAILY GRACE
April 17, 2020, Friday in the Octave of Easter
Hello Everyone!
Yesterday the day got away from me and consequently I did not send out the “Daily Grace.” There will be some weekdays in the future when this happens, but I’ll do my best to keep it to a minimum. However, I have decided at this point to forego sending out the devotions on the weekends. I enjoy writing the devotions and I have heard from a number of you that you appreciate them. I am glad for that.
Wishing you all God’s peace as we move forward together!
Pastor Dave
Selection: The Exultet
Therefore, heavenly Father, in the joy of this night,
receive our evening sacrifice of praise,
your church’s solemn offering.
Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.
May it always dispel the darkness of this night!
Meditation
“A flame divided but undimmed. . . .”
At the great Easter Vigil the Easter candle is lit and then the candles of everyone present are lit from it just as we do on Christmas Eve. As people stand facing the Easter candle, holding their own small candles, the Exultet is proclaimed. The sharing of the flame that results in many points of light is a sign of something deeper: the light of Christ, —- the light that we carry into the world, the light of our faith, the joy and love we bring to others. We don’t light our own candles. We share the light of Christ. Or rather, he shares his light with us.
With most sharing, something is lost and less is left, even though the heart often receives back more than the hands give away. But with this light it’s different. The ocean of Christ’s love is infinitely vast; his well is infinitely deep; his flame is eternally burning. If we share from him, we will be able to give and give and not be any less. If in our giving we find that we quickly run out of hope and love to offer others (if, that is, we experience “burn out”), perhaps we are trying to draw on our own store and not on that of Christ.
Any good we can do in this world will be from him. If we can help anyone during this time of social distancing, it will be Christ working in and through us. Any good intention we have, and any hope for change and growth will be a gift from God. We know these things are not our doing because they are beyond our power. It’s when we forget that and think that we create the flame that we quickly burn up and burn out.
Christ is our light! Thanks be to God!
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, my faith, hope, and love are gifts from you. Help me remember that, especially when I feel you nudging me to use them to do good for someone. I know that in order to persevere in any kind of help of others, I must always come back to you. You fan my embers back into flame, or even relight my candle as it goes out.
Contemplation
Jesus, true light of the world.