Poking Holes in the Darkness

It is common in Advent to encounter the juxtaposition of the themes of light and darkness. In fact, they are found in the familiar, beautiful words of the prophet Isaiah alluding to the coming of the Savior.

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
They lived in a land of shadows,
but now light is shining on them.. (Isaiah 9:2)

A friend of mine shared a childhood experience of the novelist, Robert Lewis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island. The gist of the story was that on one occasion the delicate, young Robert was discovered by his nurse sitting with his nose pressed up against the glass of his bedroom window. He was thoroughly captivated by the scene of a lamplighter busily lighting the streetlamps below. The nurse, worried about her fragile charge, beckoned him away from the frosty windowpane into the warmth of his bedroom. Her charge, the young Robert, resisted her bidding, insisting that he wanted to continue to watch the man who poked holes in the darkness.

Is it not Advent’s clarion call to spread light as we go about performing our daily duties? Each of us has the potential to be a "lamplighter," whether through kindness, compassion, or simply being present for others. The Advent season invites us not just to wait for the light but to actively participate in spreading it. How much brighter our neighborhoods would be if there were more “lamplighters” among us poking holes in the darkness.

You might be interested in reading the late Pastor Dr. Peter James Flamming’s sermon on Christian Life: Poking Holes in the Darkness.  

“The Light Shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

John 1:5

 -Sister Nancy Wales, CSJ

Image: Paolo Nicolello @paul_nic/Unsplash

A Prayer Book for Advent and Beyond

Are you, by any chance, on the lookout for a book which would help you to observe one of the three traditional practices or pillars of Advent: prayer, fasting and almsgiving?

May I suggest a little, fifty-some page book following the ancient format of morning and evening prayer. I found this deceivingly simple prayer book drawing my heart to quiet prayer and a deepening relationship with the Sacred One. Praying with the Earth, A Prayerbook for Peace by John Philip Newell.

Each of the two daily offerings begins with a beatitude and a prayer of awareness followed by the call, “Be still and aware.” The author then offers three quotes from the inherited scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments  and the Quran, putting us in touch with the wisdom of Jews, Christians and Muslims. Each quote is followed by an invitation to pause and savour the sacred text.  Next, we are given words to pray for the world and to offer silent prayers for peace. Our time of prayer,  concludes with a blessing to grace us on our way.

John Philip Newell offers us a simple, contemplative way during Advent to pause, pray, and linger in stillness as we prepare our hearts to welcome the Prince of Peace anew.

-Sister Nancy Wales, CSJ

Header Image: Anthony DELANOIX @anthonydelanoix/ Unsplash

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John Philip Newell (born 1953) is a Celtic teacher and author of spirituality who calls the modern world to reawaken to the sacredness of Earth and every human being. Canadian by birth, and a citizen also of Scotland, he resides with his family in Edinburgh and works on both sides of the Atlantic.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Violence Against Women and Girls     

November 25 each year proclaims The International Day for Eliminating Violence Against Women. For me, it is a sad day as I read about the plethora of startling statistics from around the world documenting the horror of murders, attacks, and suffering of women in diverse countries, including our own. The 2024 United Nations report on this subject estimate that globally 736 million women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence. The Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability reported in 2022 that 184 women and girls in Canada were violently killed, primarily by men. One woman or girl is killed every 48 Hours. An average of 102 women and girls were victims of gender-related homicide per year in Canada. In 2009 the Canadian Department of Justice stated that 7.04 billion dollars was spent dealing with the aftermath of spousal violence alone. In countries such as Afghanistan, the freedom of women to study, work, travel, or be protected from violence is non-existent. 

However, public protests, stories, and reports have been effective in reducing sexual violence in Canada. Women’s persistence in reporting sexual abuse in universities and places of work has achieved results.  Complaints about police abusing women are now taken seriously.  Progress has been slow in changing, practices in the Armed Forces to provide justice for women, but there is progress. The “Me Too” movement has encouraged women to speak about abuse and demand justice. Women are more likely to complain of abuse and seek justice without being ignored.

I have observed how women have stopped abuse by changing themselves. Some women have told me how one day they decided that they would no longer tolerate spousal abuse. Their firm declaration of this brought an end to the abuse. A woman who ends an abusive relationship without changing herself is likely to repeat the pattern with a subsequent partner. On one occasion, I asked a client who was in an abusive relationship, how she had taught her first husband that it was all right for him to beat her up.  After a startled reaction, she exclaimed: “I guess I let him get away with it the first time”.  I asked how she stopped the abuse and she replied: “I left him.”  She then began to pay attention to how her failure to listen to what she felt or wanted left her open to the unreasonable demands and abusive treatment by others, including her current partner. Her decision to change brought results. She discontinued allowing herself to be the subject of abuse or the unreasonable demands of friends and relatives.

Women have been indoctrinated to be caregivers and prioritize the needs of others.  We cannot solve the widespread problem of violence against women but we can help women, particularly young women, to respect their own freedom and dignity so that they are less likely to be subject to abusive partners, friends, and relatives.

Today we unite to End Violence against Women. #NoExcuse

-Sister Patricia McKeon, CSJ