Is 11:1-10
Rom 15:4-9
Mt 3:1-12

My Favorite Flashlights
This week I have been thinking about the concept of light and how this season of Advent invites us to open to the Christ light that we celebrate. It made me think about flashlights. I must admit it seems no matter what age I am I am always excited about getting a flashlight as a gift.

I remember as a Girl Scout counselor my sophomore summer in college finding this really cool small flashlight that had a metal outside and this amazing ability to project a great deal of light. This was a wonderful find as I had to go out later in the evening and take my turn checking on our little campers. Even though I was about twenty years old, walking out and about in the dark was a little undoing.

Five years ago a friend of mine in Minnesota knew that I had to take the infamous Hannah for walk in the winter dark and gave me the perfect flashlight for poop control. Two years ago I found the best camping flashlight which could either be used like a lantern for reading or like a “normal” flashlight. As you can see I am serious about my flashlights.

During this second week of Advent I thought about the various ways in which the light of Christ comes to us. Sometimes it is in the words of wisdom of insight and is spoken through another. Other times it is in the clear actions of justice reaching out to the “dear neighbor.” Sometimes, it is the call to “be still and know God.” There are other paths of light that become a path to our feet during this Holy season. For me the most challenging light is the one that comes from within that invites me to trust the light of love and change that can lead to Holy Transformation.

The light that called a simple, holy, and young virgin to become the vessel for the Son of God. As I move deeper into this Advent invitation, may I trust the authenticity and generosity of the one who calls me to a bringer of this Advent Light.