Invitation to the light
Photograph by Irene Berral Hens via Unsplash
Rev. Sandra Dorsainvil
Have you ever engaged in candle lighting moments?
Let me share a bit of context for that question. In a small community called Ocean Park in Maine, every summer there is a community gathering known as Illumination Night, where lights decorate many homes. The spirit of that day invites all who are present to share a candlelight moment of peace and calm. Whether you have visited the area for many years or this is your first time at Ocean Park, affectionately called OP, you know you have stepped into a special neighborhood. The town was founded in 1881 and has been home to many generations of retired ministers with or without ties to Free Will Baptists, and justice-minded families.[i]
On Illumination Day, summer residents engage in a frenzy of activities and preparation during the day to bring vibrant lights to the front yards, rooftops, and porches of their homes for all to see after dusk. They even put big banners across a few streets. Around 6 p.m., everyone heads to the town square, near the local library where music is played, short speeches are heard to recognize a few residents, strawberry shortcakes are sold as a fundraising effort, and the switch is turned on under the gazebo. You see, feel and hear the collective awe as the square is lit. Illumination Night engages everyone, visitors, summer or year-round residents, from the very young to the more seasoned, to welcome the light of peace. It is a day filled with community building and strengthening moments. The day offers a collective pause and invitation to the light of peace where neighbors intentionally catch the eyes of neighbors and share hugs, stories, smiles, laughs, tears, and sighs. It is an invitation to receive heart greetings.
Having been a summer camp pastor at the nearby Oceanwood Camp and Conference Center between 2012 and 2015, I had not had the opportunity to witness Illumination Night. My assigned weeks of ministry presence did not coincide with that special community town night.
My heart is filled with gratitude that God made a way for me to attend Illumination Night 2025. What a blessing it was to reconnect with residents I had not seen in ten years, do the usual catching up, be invited to share a meal and then meander to the beach for the second part of this community event.
At the end of Sandpiper Road, we were handed a lit candle by the grandchildren of my colleague Rev. Steve Youd. His family, joined by the Sinclair and Towle families, are the current sponsors of this candlelight procession tradition which was started 45 years ago by the Gilliam, Moceri, and O’Riley families. At the same table we picked up a prayer card where a couple of verses of Psalm 104:24-25 (NLT) were printed: “O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small.”
I invite you to choose one day in the near future, and light a candle of hope, a candle of kindness, and a candle of love in whatever setting you find yourself. May God’s peace be the flame to your private or public testimonies.
Once on the beach, I saw families digging small holes and putting lit candles in the middle of the holes, protecting the flames from the wind. Families of different sizes gathered around the lit candles praying for loved ones, situations, and humming songs to God’s ear. I noticed one child who had brought their stuffed animal. Truly all welcomed to the light.
This was a candle lighting moment to share peace, hope and mercy. A candle lighting moment where the scripture found in Micah 6:8: “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” was seen, lived and freely shared. I saw an intergenerational family who was struggling to keep their candles lit, timidly walk toward where my friends and I had our candles, as we extended an invitation to share flames from our lit candles. The children, accompanied by a grandparent, did not need to be told twice. Other adults needed repeated invitations as we physically enlarged our circle and made space for them.
I paused and wondered silently if I was not living what we currently experience in our congregations, communities, or families? The challenges to hear genuine heart invitations and find authentic ways to respond. Are intentional invitations to the light received with many doubts?
As I witnessed people’s reactions to this holy moment on the beach in Maine, I found myself smiling with sadness at what my eyes and my heart were seeing. A holy moment being offered and the kaleidoscope of the world responding. How can stewards of God’s goodness be better at sharing the light of love around them? As Christ followers we are called to be agents of peace and hope. Having lived this candle lighting moment in 2025 in God’s vineyard called OP, I sat with the “what, why, how” of my future foot prints, heart prints and hand prints for the world. What I lived could not be unlived, nor forgotten. I was seen, had been re-acquainted with colleagues and individuals I had not seen in person for ten years, and my candle was lit.
I invite you to choose one day in the near future, and light a candle of hope, a candle of kindness, and a candle of love in whatever setting you find yourself. May God’s peace be the flame to your private or public testimonies. May your shalom be yeast for greater peace. May you be part of a peaceful candle lighting moment in honor of God’s beloved communities crying to be seen, recognized, and loved.
An ordained minister with ABC-USA, Rev. Sandra Dorsainvil serves as a Ministry Coach and Women’s Group Retreat Facilitator with the Center for Career Development & Ministry. Fluent in English and French, she has had cross-cultural lived experiences in several countries in Africa, Europe and North America. Rev. Sandra is a published author of three devotionals, “Walk with Generosity,” “Beacons of Hope” and “Luces de Esperanza,” as well as co-author of a leader’s guide for leaders of short-term mission teams of volunteers, “Short-Term Mission Team Essentials – Together on The Journey.”
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
[i] More of the history of Ocean Park can be found in The Story of Ocean Park by Adelbert M. Jakeman.
Get early access to the newest stories from Christian Citizen writers, receive contextual stories which support Christian Citizen content from the world’s top publications and join a community sharing the latest in justice, mercy and faith.