Christmas Eve Homily 2017 – from Rev. Kathleen Owens

When times are their darkest, when the light of hope flickers as small as a tea light, when despair rules the day, we human beings turn to poetry and story for the hope we seek, for the reminder that we are not alone and that there is a reason for moving on, despite what is happening beyond our control. This is what columnist Roger Cohen did when writing his Op-Ed column that was printed in the New York Times yesterday. (Saturday.) He turned to Kipling’s poem ‘If’ and, using Kipling’s words for inspiration, told the truth of the state of our country today. He wrote this to remind us that, in fact, if we can keep our heads when all about us are losing theirs, that if we can hold on when there is nothing in us except the will to do so…if we can watch the things we have given our lives to, broken, and stoop and build again with worn-out tools…if we can do these things, he writes, then stoicism will prevail, decency will prevail, for it means we are fighting to win our country back.

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