Morning Meditation: Thursday, December 18, 2025

“A great ring of pure & endless light 
Dazzles the darkness in my heart 
And breaks apart the dusky clouds of night. 
The end of all is hinted in the start. 
When we are born we bear the seeds of blight; 
Around us life & death are torn apart, 
Yet a great ring of pure and endless light 
Dazzles the darkness in my heart. 
It lights the world to my delight. 
Infinity is present in each part. 
A loving smile contains all art. 
The motes of starlight spark & dart. 
A grain of sand holds power & might. 
Infinity is present in each part, 
And a great ring of pure and endless light 
Dazzles the darkness in my heart.”
― Madeleine L’Engle, A Ring of Endless Light

EPHESIANS 1:3-14
³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴ even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹ making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. ¹¹ In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ¹² so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. ¹³ In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

COLLECT FOR ADVENT
Blessed Lord, who has caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience, and comfort of the holy word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast the Blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou Hast given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. 

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