To recap a thought I had this morning at congregation....

"When celebrating Hanukkah, one begins the 1st night by lighting the middle/tallest/servant candle called the Shamash, which literally means "servant". Then you proceed to light one candle for each night of the festival. You take your menorah, or hanukkiah, and place it in the window. You show light to the world.

It's a pitiful light the first day. Two little candles flickering in the dark. Not much light. Not too impressive. As the celebration continues, the light gets brighter and brighter each night. By the end of the eight days, you have a brilliant 9 lights flickering in your window and potentially burning your house down if the cat gets inspired.

Here's the thought I shared with the congregation today.

Isn't that like our faith?

We start with light we receive from our Lord. He "lights" us and continues to shine brightly. As we show our light to the world. As we continue daily rekindling the previous fire and we expand our world we are able to become brighter and brighter. At least we should be getting brighter...

Our remembrance of G-d's goodness at this time of year is purposeful and deliberate. A hands on example of how our single light, all alone is only sufficient for ourselves. But, when added to the light of others, we can be warmth, comfort, hope. Light. This is a caution for me. A stern reminder of my need to continue to relight the lights I've been given. A notice to actively place more opportunities for shedding light in this dark world surrounding us.

We are given the gift of knowledge of our Savior. Not merely to make our own lives warm and pleasant, but to shine from our lives into the lives of others.

We shine by obeying. We shine by being faithful. We shine by loving. We shine because we are given light by the Servant of all . Because of Him we are able to have the blessing of light to begin with.

So, shall we shine?