A very long night ahead

Today will literally be the shortest day of the year, from sun-up until sun-down. Which of course means that tonight will be the longest night, the most hours of darkness, also known as the Winter Solstice.

Each year, on the longest night, we have a very particular sort of worship service. Sometimes called a Blue Christmas Service, it is an event created to allow space for the community to name the griefs and the losses that are part of our journey.

Some of the griefs we carry are recent and the tears new and fresh. Many of the griefs are very old and deep wounds, acquaintances that we have spent much, much time getting to know. As if that were not enough, this year we added a worldwide pandemic that has somehow altered, changed, suspended, postponed and cancelled nearly a year of our lives. Let's be honest, it has been a hard chapter. Thus, there is an even greater need of a place and space to name the grief.

There will be two services tonight {5:30 pm in English and 8:00 pm in Spanish}, livestreamed as per our current circumstances. That means if you miss it the first time around, you can catch it later on, or share it, or come back to it.

Together we will name the pain and the losses. We will pray. We will light candles.

We will light candles! And as we do, we will witness light coming into the darkness. And tomorrow, there will be more light, less darkness. And the day after, more. And the day after, even more.

Tonight we will speak our heart-truths. Tonight we will hear the Good News of God who is with us and because God is with us, we have hope in the very midst of it all.

Pastor Leah