A Meditation on The Feast of William Temple
November 6, 2024
and a light upon my path. (Psalm 119:105)
I hear children on the athletic field
across from my house
across from my house
laughing and shouting in warm sunshine
I contemplate the twists and curves of the now-bare branches of the maple trees
having been stripped of their final fall glory
by yesterday’s wind
I linger in uncertainty
the day and the laughter are bright
creation offers beauty in bareness
I am loved
and I am afraid
I seek a path to walk
Your word is a lantern to my feet
and a light upon my path.
I seek sure footing to move forward
with hope and joy and trust in God’s goodness
I seek a way through familiar landscapes now obscured
tendrils of shadows reaching to conceal and confuse
the way of love
Your word is a lantern to my feet
and a light upon my path.
And I know with certainty
that the True Light
which enlightens everyone
came into this world
is eternally coming into this world
and I have been promised
that God is at work in me
that God is at work in you
enabling us to choose goodness
and justice and dignity and compassion
and I have witnessed how that Light
mingled sorrow and love
on a cross
pouring salve on the world’s wounds
salvation for the broken
salvation for the contemptuous
salvation for the lost and lonely
salvation for the fearful
salvation for the hopeful
salvation for all
a redemption that can barely be imagined
Your word is a lantern to my feet
and a light upon my path.
So once more I step out into the light
the true light
and I remember that I am also a light bearer
we are light bearers
we are light bearers for one another
and we do not walk alone
we are light bearers
as life goes on
we are light bearers
dispensing compassion and diffusing hostility
cradling the vulnerable and protecting the joyous
binding up the broken-hearted and filling the hungry with good things
we are light bearers
we belong to God
we give ourselves over to love
over and over
because Love so amazing, so divine,
demands our souls, our lives, our all.*
* last stanza of the hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross