This Little Light of Mine

Our little lantern walk went off without a hitch. We wandered in the dusk, watched the sun set over the hill, visited our neighbors, sang a few songs. We talked about what we do in our days that is good; for ourself and for others. We thought about what more we could do; for ourselves and others. We agreed that life was good and we were just gonna let our lights shine!

How was your Martinmas journey?

Glimmer, lantern, glimmer

Glimmer, lantern, glimmer

Little stars a-shimmer.

Over meadow, moor and dale,

Flitter, flutter, elfin veil

Pee-wit, pee-wit, tikka-tikka-tik,

Rucoo, Rucoo

 

Glimmer, lantern, glimmer

Little stars a-shimmer.

Over rock and stock and stone;

Wandering, skipping, little gnomes.

 

The weather has turned quite quickly to wintry. Martinmas is upon us and I can only think of how much we need the warm, heavenly glow of candle light. There has been so much upheaval over the last few weeks. Hurricane Sandy hit hard areas around us, those we love have suffered great loss and millions we don't know have suffered as much, if not more. We have been faced with the reality of looking long and hard at how we live our life......what we depend on for survival, what we can do without. We live in a world of constant contact and movement and I know there have been many who have been living quite frontier-like, although it hasn't been dreamy at all.

 

The story of St. Martin is one that encompasses all that is compassionate and unconditional. Martin gave to another human being when no one else would. He sacrificed some of his comfort so that another fellow human could experience warmth and generosity. Martin acted out of grace.......and I feel like at this time when we are usually more focused on turning inward we are also being called by our neighbors to look outward.

 

It is bittersweet to sit in our warm home with all of our luxuries safely around us, wood stove crackling, lights on when needed, and hot water at our beck and call. How I wish we could somehow alleviate those who haven't had a hot shower in days, if not weeks. How I wish to offer a hot meal to a fellow human who has been stranded in their multi-story apartment building with nothing but what they were able to grab in advance of the storm. How I wish that so many were not looking at so much devastation and loss.

 

Our family is one of action! We aren't idle in moments like this so with all those "how I wish" statements above we've managed to use that energy and put it toward looking outward. We are in the planning stages of a massive event. One that could potentially bring hundreds of people together with just one common goal, thanksgiving. We are looking to bring those who have lost so much together with their neighbors and give thanks for what is left and what can be restored. We will feed their body and souls with the unconditional grace and love and good old fashioned home cooking! Martinmas comes at a time where there is so much to give and we can certainly be inspired by the Light that shone so brightly within him.

 

The littles and I made more lanterns today! I know, I've been a bit lantern crazy!! They're just so beautiful to have around and their warm glow will melt away and coldness in the air. We made very simple lanterns using the traditional method of pasting tissue paper on a glass jar. I'll end this post with a few snapshots of our experience and just one question.......

 

How will you be inspired by St. Martin this year?