Brian and I are observing the eight nights of the Jewish festival of Lights{ also known as Hanukkah} Now before someone gets in my face regarding " cultural appropriation", please recall that I AM of Jewish descent on my Mom's side of my family. Yes, I know I don't " look "Jewish-- but I do not and can not deny my heritage. I'm a proud Christian with Ashkenazi Jewish roots.
Anyway , at sundown Brian and I gather at the mantle where we keep our menorah. I first light the shamash { or ' helper"} candle and say the first blessing. Then the candles are lit , one for each night of the eight nights that celebrate the miracle of a wee bit of lamp oil lasting for eight full nights.
In spite of holidays of major religions happening during the darkest part of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, I cannot help but notice the theme of " light" in both Advent & Hanukkah.
My Christian faith uses December to prepare to recall the birth of a special Baby, a Baby Whose life & death would re-set the world. In _Godly Play_ 's Baptism story, we tell the children that the Light will change form-- and then the storyteller covers the light with a candle snuffer. Then the storyteller says" The Light has not disappeared. It has changed. Look at the smoke rising up and going all around this room. You can't see it-- but the Light is still here. "
The Light has changed. It is here, but cannot be seen. It can be felt.
Last night my dear paternal Grandmother, Anne, went to her eternal Home . Grandma was surrounded by five of her six children, and the long-distance soul-presence of her kin living in other places. COVID keeps us from gathering to celebrate Anne's life, but I recall the candle light in Godly Play and how the energy from the flame merely changes form. I like to think that our loved ones who have gone Home before us are like the candle light. They are not here in the form that we can see and touch, but their essence -- at death-- changes into something that is everywhere.
For me, Resurrection means that Grandma is whole and healthy. Additionally, her non-presence in the physical world provides her loved ones with ways to encounter her spirit.
As my Dad said, it will be the first time in half a century that he and Mom won't send a Christmas card to Grandma's address. Yet she'll always be with us--- just like the light of the candle.
"Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, she-asah nisim laavoteinu v’imoteinu bayamim hahaeim baz’man hazeh. "
" Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who performed wonderous deeds for our ancestors in days of old at this season."
And, from the Book Of Common Prayer Burial:
O God of grace and glory, we remember before you this day
our sister ) Anne We thank you for giving her to us, her
family and friends, to know and to love as a companion on
our earthly pilgrimage. In your boundless compassion,
console us who mourn. Give us faith to see in death the gate
of eternal life, so that in quiet confidence we may continue
our course on earth, until, by your call, we are reunited with
those who have gone before; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
~Sarah McCarren
11 Dec 2020
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