On Sunday night, as you may have heard, a small window at the back of our church was smashed and someone broke into the church and stole the proceeds from Sunday's Christmas tree sale (totaling over $1200 in cash and checks).  The next day we had to go through the drills of calling the police and crime scene investigators, cancelling the school's pageant rehearsal and after school class, piecing together how it may have happened, etc. 

And dealing with feelings.

My own were a mixture of anger and, well . . . no mixture.  Just pure anger.  In response I posted a terse note on Facebook.

What happened next was astounding.  Compassionate notes from all over the country.  And offers of donations.  The editor of the Coconut Grove Grapevine posted a sympathetic article and people responded to that as well.

Later in the afternoon a mom who had been helping cook for Casa Valentina came into my office with her second-grade son.  "Pastor Willie," she said, "when my son heard what happened he said 'Mommy, I want to help.  Can we give the church some money?'"  We were both a little teary eyed at the spontaneously compassionate instinct of this young boy.

By the end of the day my anger had been transformed into gratitude.  The season of Advent continues to remind me that there is no darkness that cannot be overcome by the light of Christ and his Spirit which abounds all around us.

In Christ's Love,

Pastor Willie