Pandemic Ponderings of the Transitional Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley
Sue Westfall
January 4, 2021
Dear Friends,
Greetings in this new year! What a rich season of worship and reflection we have come through culminating in Epiphany this Wednesday, the 6th of January. Arise, shine, for your light has come! They that dwelt in deep darkness and in the shadow of death, on them your light has shined. That is the bold promise we claim at Epiphany even as we dwell in deep darkness and in the shadow of death. Arise, shine, Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley, for your light has come! Linger just a little longer at the manger with the Magi to let yourself be bathed in the Light so that, through this coming year with all its challenges and blessings, you might bear that light to others. To close this short Epiphany reflection, I share this poem by Jan Richardson.
Blessed are you
who bear the light
in unbearable times,
who testify
to its endurance
amid the unendurable,
who bear witness
to its persistence
when everything seems
in shadow
and grief.
Blessed are you
in whom
the light lives,
in whom
the brightness blazes—
your heart
a chapel,
an altar where
in the deepest night
can be seen
the fire that
shines forth in you
in unaccountable faith,
in stubborn hope,
in love that illumines
every broken thing
it finds.
Would love to catch up with you all and you are cordially invited to gather with your colleagues on Thursday, January 7, at 4:00pm. The link is
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/201809351 In this new year we are shifting to monthly gatherings – the first Thursday of every month.
As ever in prayer,
Sue Westfall