{"id":1490,"date":"2014-12-27T22:22:59","date_gmt":"2014-12-27T22:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1490"},"modified":"2014-12-20T22:33:19","modified_gmt":"2014-12-20T22:33:19","slug":"a-praying-spirit-keep-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/12\/a-praying-spirit-keep-light.html","title":{"rendered":"A Praying Spirit: Keep Light"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of bigjom\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After Christmas, we take down our tree and the lights that adorn it. We stow away our Advent wreath, and perhaps stow away partially-used candles. We remove decorations, including lights around our windows and doors. And we might find the result of all of this clearing Christmas activity to be barren. Bleak. Even perhaps a bit depressing.<\/p>\n

But in the midst of a darker surrounding, we still have the light of Christ within us. In fact, as our worship and celebration of this Christmas time has shown us, we have more than just a little flicker of a flame. In prayer and faith, we have a whole blaze of enthusiasm, appreciation, and joy at the birth of Our Lord, God’s promise fulfilled.<\/p>\n

So, as you pray after Christmas, remember the light within you. Let it warm you, illuminate your thoughts, and kindle a fire in your actions.<\/p>\n

Hallelujah! He is born!<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After Christmas, we take down our tree and the lights that adorn it. We stow away our Advent wreath, and perhaps stow away partially-used candles. We remove decorations, including lights around our windows and doors. And we might find the result of all of this clearing Christmas activity to be barren. Bleak. Even perhaps a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1272,241,3,360,43,1242,4,1047,578,383,1236,95],"tags":[313,1411,1410,123,56,1412],"class_list":["post-1490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-praying-spirit-prayer-2","category-christmas","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-determination","category-encouragement-in-life","category-food-for-thought","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-good","category-goodness","category-heart-health","category-prayer-2","category-prayers","tag-christmas-joy","tag-christmas-spirit","tag-keeping-the-light-of-christmas","tag-light","tag-love","tag-praying-light"],"yoast_head":"\nA Praying Spirit: Keep Light - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/12\/a-praying-spirit-keep-light.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Praying Spirit: Keep Light - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After Christmas, we take down our tree and the lights that adorn it. 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1490"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1491,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1490\/revisions\/1491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}