Evening prayer

 Friday of the Second Week of Advent

For they do not plan for peace,
but invent deceitful schemes
against the quiet in the land.
Psalm 35:20

As dusk gives way to nightfall, I prepare for another quiet evening at home. The darkness is comforting—the familiar attendant ushering me toward the transition to a different kind of time and space.

Lately, I have been lighting candles in the evening, just to have the company of a bravely dancing flame casting a small halo of rich color above the wick. Another miracle of oxygen.

I am also familiar with the forces that cannot abide the quiet, that constantly lure me with the clamor of false promises of security, even whispering that the night must be kept at bay. As if God had not named the darkness and woven it into creation. As if peace was absent from the blackness of midnight.

I settle in. I give thanks for the day that is past. And I remember that we can only see the stars at night.

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay