In church on the last Sunday of Advent, we sang the song "Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace," and our pastor gave a sermon about Mary, a young girl who graciously accepted what God had asked of her, to become the bearer of a new and sacred light. “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.” (John 1:9)

He told us how some have come to see Mary as a symbol of Israel itself and of God's promise to Abraham that, through Israel, "all the peoples on the earth would be blessed." (Genesis 12:3)  And so it was that, through Mary, God blessed the world with her son, Jesus.

The story of Mary isn’t just a story about a young girl though. It's a story about all of us. As Diana Butler Bass put it: “God is with us, here, in history, on earth, and in our flesh. This isn’t a story of heaven. It is a story of the world, for humans and all creation.”

Mary discovered her purpose when she became a channel for God's greatest blessing to the world.  We, like Mary, can become channels for God's blessing too.

"Because it’s not about being clever, or fit, or wealthy, or talented," our pastor said. "It’s about simply letting God work through you. Which means letting God’s grace be seen in your smile, to make strangers feel warm and appreciated and welcome. It means letting God’s spirit be channeled through your touch when you draw close to a person the world has shunned. It means letting God’s gentleness be felt in your words when you speak a difficult truth to someone who is not quite ready to hear it. It means putting your body in front of another when they are in danger."

I like the idea of being a channel of grace. I like the idea because it feels right. There's something calm and serene happening when I allow this channel to open. I also like the idea because it helps take *me* out of the picture. If I can step out of the way and let my heart and mind be open to what flows through me, then I don't have to worry that I'm not compassionate enough or patient enough or generous enough. It's not about what I can do. It's about what God can do.  Like Mary, I can try and let God's blessing be born into this world, to let it give light and love and peace to "all the peoples of the earth." 

Make me a channel of your peace.

Where there is hatred let me bring your love.

Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord

And where there's doubt, true faith in you.

Make me a channel of your peace

Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope

Where there is darkness, only light

And where there's sadness, ever joy.

Oh, Master grant that I may never seek

So much to be consoled as to console

To be understood as to understand

To be loved as to love with all my soul. 

Make me a channel of your peace

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned

In giving to all men that we receive

And in dying that we're born to eternal life. 

- Prayer of St. Francis, adapted by Sebastian Temple