“Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the Light gets in.” Leonard Cohen

This Christmas season has been a time of realizing the many cracks that have become so obvious as my years pass by. As a mother and grandmother, the seasons have come and gone, as have the cracks. Some are deep and wide, and others are slivers of imperfection. And yet the bells of God the Father’s grace and mercy ring out with his incredible light, filling in the fissures of my journey. How many times have I lost his son in the busyness of my life? How many times has he filled in my cracks with the light of the promise of his son? How many times has he filled the emptiness of my life with a beautiful, oftentimes, blinding light of knowing, because I know of his powerful presence? He allows me to find the light of his son, and in those moments, I see that the bells can still be rung! This seventy-sixth Christmas season of my life is graced with cracks … cracks that I trust are being filled with the light of hope and peace, as well as the joy of his loving presence which rings loud and clear. With incredible gratitude, I can ring those bells and live in his light.