I put my Advent wreath together last week.

Yesterday, I got a warm e-mail from my friend Tom, the new pastor of the Congregational Church of Cranberry Island and the Isleford Congregational Church.

He and his wife used to live in Portsmouth, in the middle of the city’s bustle and trendiness.  Moving to an island 30 minutes out to sea must be an adjustment.  It’s not possible to escape yourself by jumping in the car and going somewhere.  Deep contemplation, that’s what it sounds like to me.

Pertinent to the beginning of Advent, Tom closed his e-mail with “Let us school our souls in the arc of the seasons and find that the darkness cannot overcome this Great Illuminator.”