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Rev Beth Orling<\/strong><\/p>\n Isaiah 9:2-7.\u00a0 Luke 2:1-20<\/strong><\/p>\n You have been witnesses this evening \u2013 witnesses to the light.\u00a0 The baby Jesus \u2013 light of the world — grew up to teach us forgiveness, generosity, kindness, and victory over oppression and over death.<\/p>\n The candles you have placed and enjoyed, the candles you will light when we sing Silent Night again \u2013 these candles witness to the light that our dark and troubled world so desperately needs.<\/p>\n Tonight we have welcomed the Universal Christ, the Christ that is forever being born in our human souls and into our real, authentic world.<\/p>\n Christmas-tide lasts 12 days. It might be a challenge to celebrate each one.\u00a0 But perhaps you can find a way.\u00a0 Perhaps a special cookie treat one day, perhaps a special walk in the woods one day, lighting candles each of the 12 days, a surprise you give someone in your neighborhood or in your home, perhaps a time of silent meditation one day, perhaps a letter you write to an old friend, perhaps a visit to someone who is sick, along with constant prayer for peace in the world and in the lives of troubled relatives or friends.<\/p>\n Every day \u2013 in the 12 days of Christmas \u2013 and in your year to come: light a candle \u2013 with flames of fire or quietly in your heart — for someone. You will reflect Jesus\u2019 light, his words of hope, when you see the newborn babe in those you encounter.\u00a0 As we celebrate the mystery of God among us, we come to see the light in our dark world, every day in Jesus\u2019 blessed Name.<\/p>\n God grant you and your children and grandchildren this eternal blessing, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Christmas Eve Reflection.\u00a0 Dec. 24, 2023.\u00a0 Faith Episcopal Church, Poulsbo, WA. Rev Beth Orling Isaiah 9:2-7.\u00a0 Luke 2:1-20 You have been witnesses this evening \u2013 witnesses to the light.\u00a0 The baby Jesus \u2013 light of the world — grew up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homily"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithpoulsbo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithpoulsbo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithpoulsbo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithpoulsbo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithpoulsbo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=697"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/faithpoulsbo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":699,"href":"https:\/\/faithpoulsbo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697\/revisions\/699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithpoulsbo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithpoulsbo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithpoulsbo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}