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Longest Night

Candle [dry gouache] by Julia Seymour
Life begins in the dark. 
Seeds, babies, resurrection- new life starts unseen.

It is unseen, but not without a witness. 
Divine eyes of love perceive all things. 

We sometimes think of our grief, our doubt, our pain as kinds of darkness. 
In darkness, the light looks different. 

In the dark, we dig deep for what is true- giving hope, strength, and peace. 
In the dark, we move slowly, easing forward by degrees. 

Seasons of darkness can break our hearts, 
Seasons of darkness teach us lessons that shape our living. 

Some nights are longer than others, 
But dawn comes- and not through our work or goodness.

It is the goodness of God that lives in the dark and the light. 
It is the goodness of God that carries us through all seasons. 

In doubt and in faith, in grief and in joy, in pain and in wholeness, 
Life begins in the dark. Light begins in the dark. 

And, in the light or in the dark, you belong to God. 
We belong to God. 




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