Happy New Year! The Christian year begins with the season of Advent, and this way of beginning is itself significant. You might think the year would begin with the trumpets of Easter, or the softness of Christmas Eve, or the fires of Pentecost — but on the contrary, we begin in the shadows of despair, war, sorrow, and hate. For it’s precisely there that the God of grace will arrive, and accordingly, it’s precisely there that God’s church is called to light candles of hope, peace, joy, and love. It’s worth remembering this deep poetry: as the Christian new year begins, we join hands and enter the darkness, actively waiting, singing, and praying anew for God’s light to overwhelm the world.
To help proclaim that God’s new world is at hand, the people of the Salt Project have written four alternative candle lighting litanies to use during the holy season of Advent. Each begins by telling the truth about a world that is all too barren of God’s hope, peace, joy, and love. Then, after the candle has been lit, we cry out with all people of faith–past, present, and future–that God is, even now, overwhelming the world!
Hope
Reader One: When I look around, I see shadows of hunger. Particularly in this time of pandemic, so many neighbors, nearby and around the world, will go to bed hungry tonight.
Reader Two: When I look around, I see shadows of injustice, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer–and someone somewhere will fall asleep under a bridge tonight.
Reader One: In the face of hunger, we light a candle of hope.
Reader Two: In the face of injustice, in the face of despair, we light a candle of hope.
Light the first candle in your Advent wreath.
Reader One: Let the light from this candle say to all that God’s hope is coming, on earth as it already is in heaven.
Peace
Reader One: Because of war, because of violence in our communities, because there is still so much unrest in our hearts, we light a candle of peace.
Reader Two: Because hatred is still so strong, because so many swords have not yet been beaten into ploughshares, we light a candle of peace.
Light the second candle in your Advent wreath.
Reader One: May the light from this candle overwhelm the world.
Reader Two: May the light from this candle say to all that God’s peace is coming, on earth as it already is in heaven.
Reader One: Friends, be not afraid, God’s peace is at hand!
Joy
Reader One: When I look around, I see shadows of sadness, families who have lost loved ones, people in prison, people who are isolated and feel on their own.
Reader Two: When I look around, I see shadows of grief, people dreading the holidays because of painful memories, because they’re recently divorced, because they don’t want to spend another Christmas alone.
Reader One: In the face of sadness, we light a candle of joy.
Reader Two: In the face of grief, in the face of loss, we light a candle of joy.
Light the third candle on your Advent wreath.
Reader One: May the light from this candle overwhelm the world.
Reader Two: May the light from this candle say to all that God’s joy is coming on earth as it already is in heaven.
Reader One: Brothers and sisters in Christ, be not afraid, God’s joy is at hand!
Love
Reader One: Because too many people are wandering in the wilderness, because too many people are sitting in the valley of the shadow of death, because too many of our conversations are laced with conflict and rancor, we light candles.
Reader Two: Because people all over the world are suffering, and we’re often too distracted to notice, we light candles.
Reader One: Today we stop everything and light these candles: one for hope, one for peace, one for joy, and one for love.
Light the fourth candle in your Advent wreath.
Reader Two: May the light from these candles overwhelm the world.
Reader One: May the light from these candles illuminate the valley of the shadow of death.
Reader Two: May the light and fire from these candles burn away everything that is preventing God’s love from being born among us.
Reader One: Brothers and sisters, be not afraid, even now–even now–God’s love is overwhelming the world, on earth as it is in heaven!
Christ Candle (on Christmas Eve)
Reader One: Because injustice and despair threaten to overwhelm us, we pray for hope.
Light the first candle in your Advent wreath.
Reader Two: Because so many swords have not yet been beaten into ploughshares, we pray for peace.
Light the second candle in your Advent wreath.
Reader One: Because grief and loss weigh so heavily, we pray for joy.
Light the third candle in your Advent wreath.
Reader Two: Because hatred is still so strong, and because people all over the world are suffering, we pray for love.
Light the fourth candle in your Advent wreath.
Reader One: God has come to us as a child, to dwell with us, and to walk with us.
Light the Christ Candle in your Advent wreath, often a candle in the center.
Reader Two: May the light and the fire from these candles burn away everything that is preventing the God of hope and peace and joy and love from being born among us.
Reader One: Brothers and sisters, be not afraid, even now–even now–the light of Christ is overwhelming the world, on earth as it is in heaven!