In our tradition, a candle in a wreath is lighted for each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas when the fifth candle is lighted. The first, second, and fourth candles are traditionally purple. They denote Hope, Love, and Peace. The third is traditionally pink denoting Joy, sort deriving from another ancient tradition of a Joy Sunday celebration. Leading up to the commemoration of Jesus birth the lights grow brighter as Jesus was the Light of the World.
This Sunday we contemplated Love. John, Jesus’s friend and author of the fourth gospel, used light and dark as the theme of his story. He also is famous for making love the core idea. God is love. Jesus is love.
Love not so much as an emotion. Love is a way of acting toward yourself and others. Can you pray for others? Can you perform acts large and small for others? Can you treat others and yourself with kindness and compassion?
During this week of Advent we could hardly do better than contemplate how we love. And how our love appeared yesterday. And how we will respond with love today.
Faith Venture 
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