It’s party season. Company Christmas party, staff party, neighborhood party, caroling and Christmas tree lightings, tacky Christmas sweater party… the list goes on and on. All the little boxes of our December calendar offer a different opportunity to celebrate the dazzle of the holiday season. It is exciting to be able to gather in-person again and feel connected after last year’s isolation. We want to be invited to alllllll the Christmas parties. But. The Christian life is one that includes an invitation to the pain as well as the party.
Each time we approach the manger of our Lord and Savior, we celebrate not only that our God chose to experience life in all its human fullness. We give thanks that our God will walk towards a cross without skipping the painful part of redemption and wholeness.
On Tuesday night, December 21, we will gather at 7pm for a service of hope and healing. It is ok to bring your discomfort, your struggles, your grief and your doubt to church. It is more than ok; it is faithful. In the middle of twinkling lights and Hallmark holiday movies, some of us are reeling from recent loss of loved ones, re-calibrating to life after two waves of pandemic, mourning a marriage gone awry, missing family overseas, or wondering what balance looks like these days. Come sit in a reflective space that honors your sorrow and your strength -- and worship God who knows both deep sorrow and deep strength.
The service will take place in the sanctuary, two days after the joyous choir cantata. The same walls that watch the jubilant bells and four-part harmony will be a quiet, gentle container for our communal aching for wholeness. I invite you to attend just as you are. We will partake of communion by intinction. And we will watch the dim glow of hope flicker. Together.
