For this Advent season, we acknowledge we are living in troubled times.
May we all be reminded of God's tremendous Gift of Love
through these diverse Advent daily meditations.
~ FOURTH WEEK OF ADVENT ~
FAITH in troubled times...
Blue Christmas: Reflections on the Longest Night

There is an Advent tradition within Western Christianity of inviting people to come together for the Longest Night, a night around the time of the winter solstice, when there are more hours of darkness than light. This is a time to come together for prayers and laments, to mourn the losses and griefs of the year, to let the tears flow for the hurting places in our own lives, as well as for our country and our world. We have never seen a year like 2020, and it is proper (and perhaps necessary) to stop and reflect on this reality. Yet, how do we do this when we cannot gather together as we traditionally would?  

This Longest Night, otherwise known as “Blue Christmas” is an opportunity to stop and reflect wherever we are and with whomever we are with. We can plead with God to remember us, to pray for justice and restoration, even to hope against hope, through our doubts and tears and fears, that “God will set things right all over the earth.”
Find a quiet place and settle into the space and experience the silence. 
Let the words of Psalm 22
bring to mind what this year
has had you crying out to God:

My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day
but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
In you, our ancestors trusted.
They trusted and you delivered them.
It was you who brought me
from the womb,
you who kept me safe
on my mother's breast.
Since my mother bore me,
you have been my God.
Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near and
there is no one to help.
God does not despise
the affliction of the afflicted.
God does not hide from me.
When I cry to God, God hears me.
Thanks be to God.
As you reflect on Advent, where have you experienced both darkness and light?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by God, and without God nothings came to be.
What came to be through God was life, and this life was the light of the world.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 

. . . .

If you have four candles, gather them and prepare to light them one at a time with a pause of silence in between. If you have gathered with someone else, perhaps you want to share the memories that surface…

. . . .

First Candle:
Remember those whom we have loved and lost.
Pause to name them, remember their face, their voice, and conjure a memory. 
Thank you for the gift of these people.
Take our sad hearts and our ache and bring us Holy Comfort. 

Second Candle:
Remember the pain of loss: loss of relationships, jobs,
health, faith, even the loss of joy. 
We offer this pain to You. Into our open hands, place the gift of peace.

Third Candle:
Remember ourselves and what we have endured this year.
The times we have fallen short, the times we have been overwhelmed by the darkness, when we struggled to trust, when we were directionless. 
Lord, be our guide and grant us reassurance that we are on the right path.
Direct us if we are not.

Fourth Candle:
Remember our faith and the hope that the Christmas story offers us.
The light of God always shines regardless of circumstances.
Where there is light and love, teach us to seek it;
may it be this light and love that we offer the world around us. 
Amen.
Reflect on the words of Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come?
 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in 
from this time on and forevermore.

. . . .

God of great compassion and love, hear our prayers for our own hearts and especially for those who are bereaved and troubled this Christmas. May the Christ child, born in a stable, himself outcast and marginalized, bring light, comfort, peace and joy this holiday season. Amen.
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