During a recent ‘Climate Vigil,‘ which join Christians from around the world to ”pray, sing, and reflect on what it means to be Christ-followers in the age of climate change,’ Rev. Kyle Meyaard-Schaap over saw a candle-lighting ceremony as the song ‘this little light of mine’ became a powerful anthem for responding to climate change.
Meyaard-Schaap serves as the Vice President of the Evangelical Environmental Network and is ordained in the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA), spending the last decade educating and mobilizing Christians around the world to “address the climate crisis as an act of discipleship and neighbor-love.” He explains as he closes out the vigil:
So friends are you ready to take Jesus at his word when he tells us that we are the light of the world? In just a minute all of us gathered around the globe are going to light our candles.
…You might be wondering ‘why candles?’ Why are we lighting candles in response to the climate crisis?’ Well one reason is because it’s prayer in action. Another reason is because it’s an act of resistance, of standing against the darkness and like our savior, refusing to let our light be overcome by it.
Now I’ll admit, lighting a candle can feel like a small thing, but as frail creatures in the face of the climate crisis, I think we have to admit to ourselves that sometimes all we can do are small things. But we believe as Christians that even small things done in faith those can move mountains.
That’s why we’re lighting candles and praying, because we believe that our God is big enough. Big enough to take our small efforts and do more with them than we could ever ask or imagine. That somehow in God’s mysterious economy of salvation, lighting a candle and praying for the climate crisis can make a difference. Maybe it can make all the difference in the world that’s why we pray and light our candles.…So now friends, would you join me in lighting a candle as a symbol of our Christian commitment to responding to climate change with faith, hope and love? May our light shine before others to drive out the darkness and to glorify our Father in heaven, Amen.
