This phrase was on the candles we used on Wednesday evening.  It is part of John 1:5 in the Message paraphrase.  I thought of it again this morning as I read the news that some of the trapped Chilean miners are showing signs of depression.  I'm not surprised they are.  I can think of nothing worse than being trapped for months on end with no guarantee of rescue being successful.  I've known and worked with a few people with depression and it is a nasty disease.  Yes, a disease.  It eats up self-worth and destroys hope, engulfing its victim in darkness.  Now imagine experiencing that in physcial darkness and with the very real possibility that the light at the end of the tunnel will be blocked out... Ugh. It makes me shiver.

It is easy to be voyeurs for five minutes and then move on with our lives as new headlines grab out attention but for these 33 men it is real and ever present.  I cannot imagine how they feel but I do feel strongly moved to pray for them, and for their families anxiously waiting, hoping, longing.

One of the Taize songs we used on Wednesday is a voice of hope for all in dark places - physically trapped in mines, emotionally trapped in depression, metaphorically trapped in poverty, fear or isolation...

Within our darkest night, you kindle a fire that never dies away, never dies away.

Within our darkest night, you kindle a fire that never dies away, never dies away...

(c) Presses de Taize

Maybe it's a promsie you need.  Maybe you know someone who needs it.  Either way, please share it.

Tomorrow's morning service is all about birds... sparrows, doves, hens, chickens and eagles.  It will proobably be a bit marmitified but I've enjoyed preparing it.

Tomorrow's evening servcie is a favourite hymns evening - a baker's dozen to be precise.  Shuffling them into a sensible order was a challenge because they are all lovely, each rich in theolgoy and spirituality and as diverse as those who have chosen them.  We have one in Welsh (with English subtitles), one by Kendrick, one by Wren, one written on our patch a few years ago, one that dates back to St Francis.

Lots of flitting about then, lots of nightingales and crows singing praises to God.  I hope it's a good day for all involved.