There is joy and blessedness in being permitted to witness in an age of doubt and unbelief to that precious faith committed unto us. 
The Rt Rev'd H.B. Whipple, Founder of The Church of the Good Shepherd, Maitland, Florida, 1881

Dearly Beloved in Christ,

There is only one light of the world and that is "the true light, which enlightens everyone" - our Savior Jesus Christ.  And yet we are commissioned to be his light-bearers - we are to "shine with the radiance of Christ's glory."

The only way there is room for Christ's glory is to give up any sense we might have of our own.  Statements that include phrases such as: "my talents," "my academic or business acumen," "my ideas," can be used in ways in which we try to grasp for ourselves a sense of our own worth.  They are reflective of the way in which culture would tempt us to speak well of ourselves, but the reality is that all that we have is gift.  Our life itself is gift, our salvation is gift, our talents are gift, our spiritual gifts are - well - gift!  There is no equal exchange here it is all grace - free gift.  Consequently there is no room for boasting.  We are to empty ourselves of any sense of our own glory so that there is room for the Lord to fill us with his.

Professor Paula Gooder, who was the speaker for our October clergy conference, shared a question her young daughter had posed: "Mummy, how does Jesus make us real?  Does he draw us first and then colour us in?" 

We have indeed been drawn by the loving hand of God, knit together in our mother's womb.  He desires to colour us in.  To fill us with himself.  To make us real.  And he does so through his Word and Sacrament: "grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacrament, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory."  Through a daily discipline we are to "inwardly digest" the Word of life, and through regular participation in the Sacrament we are to be made alive with the very body and blood of Christ.  We are coloured-in by Christ himself.  And this not for ourselves but so that we may make him known, so that those who do not yet know him will see "and stand in awe, and put their trust in God."

We have been chosen.  We have been called.  We have been saved.  We have received spiritual gifts - none of this our own doing.  The Lord himself has drawn us and desires to colour us in with himself so that we might shine with his glory so that others will come to know him, come to worship him, and come to obey him.  May we allow the Lord to colour us in.

In His Peace, Grace, and Love,
Rev'd Sarah+