We confess
that we do not always want our lives restored or renewed.
Speaking truth to the things and the people who bind us is very scary.
Our ‘burial bandages’ not only bind us tightly,
they also keep us thinking we are secure,
hidden away in our tombs.
Call us forth to discover that freedom overcomes slavery
and life overcomes death.
Make us beacons of light in our community.

Earl is the retired Minister of the Lattimer United Methodist Church, a little church in a former coal mine town near Hazleton, Pennsylvania USA. The congregation’s purpose is to be ‘A Beacon of Light to the Surrounding Community.’  Earl’s lighthouse artwork accompanies this statement each week in the church bulletin.