From the Pastor's Desk
December 2025
The Peace of Wild Things ~ Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives might be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
I am thinking a lot about peace these days. When one's life, either in one's home or the wider community, seems to be in constant flux or upheaval, the psyche searches for peace. I find it more difficult lately to settle in and experience the kind of peace Jesus promises; the peace that passes all understanding. I love the poem by Wendell Berry that I shared above. When I find it particularly difficult to find peace, I take a walk, stand under the stars and marvel at the beauty of this world that God so lovingly created.
Last month millions of people were privileged to view a display of the northern lights. You couldn't see it easily with the naked eye, but through the lends of a camera the colors and movement popped. For days I delighted in viewing the social media posts of the lights engulfing places that I love; the Sedona landscape, the Nubble Lighthouse in ME, the shoreline of a familiar beach in Cape Cod. What a joy to behold!
God is calling us into the light this season. Where there is darkness, God has sent the light. Where there is despair, God promises hope. Where there is turmoil, peace. I am counting on these gifts even more this year than I have in the past. There is a storyteller on social media named Greg Kata who is a theater arts teacher in an elementary school in New Orleans. At the end of each week, he recounts with hilarious "
"Gregisms" that he has been privileged to receive from his students. The stories are delightful but what I love most is the way he ends his posts. "Find your joy!" enthusiastically declares. "Find your joy!"
The Holy child came into the world to make all things new. He took on flesh, that we might experience how God longs to dwell among us; feeling what we feel, tasting what we taste, wondering as we wonder. It is the miracle of the incarnation that we ponder this season. May you find not only your joy (and if you are able to accomplish this, that would be more than enough) but also your love, and hope and peace. The world needs a whole lot of these Advent gifts this year. May you receive and offer them in abundance.
Peace
Rev. Lynne
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