Dear Friends in Christ,

 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them light has shined” Isaiah 9:2, NRSV UE

These words are spoken to you, to me, to us. 

As much as I love this season of Christmas, we need to remember that:

• Christmas isn't just about getting together with families, important as that is.
• Christmas isn’t just about finding the perfect gift for those you love, as meaningful as that is.
• Christmas isn’t just about decorations and carols and Christmas trees, beautiful as they are.

Christmas is about moving from darkness into that “great light” of the promise. Christmas is about “God with us,” of the “Word made flesh,” of hope of Christ’s presence in the midst of this miraculous, beautiful, wonderful and, yes, sometimes dark creation.

In the book, From Death to Birth, by Edmund Steimle, we read these words. “It is in the dark moments of history that the ancient prophets and writers have talked most eloquently about hope.  Because they know that hope has to be held close to all that seems to deny it if it is to mean anything.  Anyone can hope when things go well.  But when things look bleak and dark, then the God of hope can offer us something.”

That is what the coming of this Christ-child is all about. The birth of that child has offered hope to a world, to us, walking in darkness.

So, I offer you this gift of music, “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus,” by Charles Wesley. Listen for the sound of hope. Hope that we find in the Christ-child.

Merry Christmas,

Bishop Deborah Kiesey

Interim Bishop
Dakotas Conference