“It’s Mother’s Day,” I though when I woke up this morning.

“Oh, yeah, It’s Mother’s Day,” was my second, more condemning thought.

A few weeks ago, I had been asked if I would lead our congregation in a Call to Worship today, a short devotional at the beginning of the service.

For days I had wondered what to share, had prayed for God to tell me what to say. When I woke up this morning at 5 am, I was still without a lead. What’s more, I didn’t think I was the best candidate to stand up and give a hearty cheer for mothers. All I could hear were the (familiar) condemnations about why I rather posed a liability to God’s Kingdom then a person who could lead others to worship.

“Lord, I have nothing. Why did you chose me? Why today?” I said while I stared at the blank page and swallowed lukewarm coffee.

A cathedral came to mind – to be specific, the Cathedral of Cologne (Kölner Dom). I grew up in Germany and went to college in Cologne. Back then, I went downtown and visited the Cathedral regularly. The gothic, two-steepled structure stretches 515 feet into the sky and looms over the city like a giant sentry. Many times I stood in the middle of the busy church plaza and stared upward at those enormous spires – often until I was dizzy.

While I contemplated what it means to be a vessel for God this morning, the inside of the Dom came to mind. I remembered the solemn sense and the hush which came over me when I stepped across the threshold into the sanctuary.

Beautiful light poured from those dark domes through stained glass windows and illuminated all of the inside, even on gloomy days. The endless stone columns, the main altar at the end of the nave, the marble flooring with its mosaic depictions of saints, all lay in this light – not light from within but from outside.

We live in a world that condemns quickly. We are under a barrage of accusations continually. Like mucky glass and broken windows accusations keep us from receiving and living out the light of Jesus. Beauty, namely Christ’s beauty, does not come first from inside of us but first from Him. He penetrates, forgives, cleanses our filthy view, opens our hearts wide to shine Him into the world. We become reflections of Him, not because we are flawless but because we are willing.

If you had a Mother’s Day which leaves you condemned today, take heart. He is your Light. He shines in the darkness – and the darkness has not overcome it!

John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Essay, Heidi Viars ©2026
Scripture taken from the ESV
Photos: Cologne Cathedral
Richter window in Cologne Cathedral
© Axel Schulten, KölnTourismus GmbH