I attended a Ministerium breakfast meeting this morning. The Slate Belt Ministerium is a group of leaders, mostly clergy, from congregations all across the Slate Belt region. We get together monthly for support, fellowship, and to plan occasional events. This morning, one of the pastors shared a goal he’s been working on. He is attempting to provide for a retreat using the “Walk to Emmaus” program. This retreat, for both clergy and laypersons, will be held next year at a local retreat center. He spoke passionately about the importance these retreats have been in his own faith journey. As he spoke, I thought about how the council at my church recently set a goal of working on “spirituality” as a goal in 2024, and I thought that this might be an excellent opportunity for those who want to really go deep into their spirituality and faith. It felt like a Holy Spirit moment, and I was very happy that our Ministerium can play a small role in helping it happen. That was definitely a sign of God’s light.

Today I also got good news from two people I care about. Both of them have had a really tough time lately, one with a really nasty respiratory infection, and the other with ongoing mental health concerns. Both of them shared with me that things are going in the right direction. Everything isn’t perfect, but there’s hope. Sometimes that’s the best you can hope for on a given day. God’s light shone through, even if just a little.

The third thing was just a lovely coincidence. I visited a homebound couple from my congregation today, as I do regularly. Not one hour later, I happened to come across their daughter-in-law while I was running some other errands – I hadn’t seen her in months. I mentioned to her that I’d just seen her in-laws, and she was so appreciative. I’ve heard people say coincidences can be viewed as God “winking” to us. If that’s true, then that chance encounter was certainly a little glimpse of God’s light.

That’s three places where I saw the light of God today, the third Wednesday of Advent.

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