Christ's Light of Healing and Hope

God of hope; 

give us a glimpse of trust and assurance, 

a sense of purpose and possibility. 

Come into our hearts and our minds, 

bringing comfort, health, and peace. 

Re-create in us a sense of gratitude, 

which comes in experiencing the love of Christ. Amen.

 Lots of congregations hold services at this time of year which they call Blue Christmas, or Longest Night.  These worship opportunities are meant to be shelters, oases, for those who find this time of year difficult for a number of reasons. Some feel the loss of loved ones keenly around Christmas. Others struggle with the realities of the Northern Hemisphere with the bleak shrinking of daylight hours approaching the Winter Solstice. I always do my countdown to December 21/22 and the first day past the solstice is its own form of Christmas gift.

I'm not sure what will be happening for other congregations this year, but I will be leading a service this evening for Trenton United Church, which is our church home. I led them in congregations I served in the past and Rev. Isaac has asked if I would do so this year. In addition to the usual reasons for a gathering such as this one we have all been contending with one of the most, if not the most. disorienting and bleak years of our lives. The COVID pandemic has been the relentless spectre of loss and grim news through 2020.

 For a time we thought we'd made our way through the worst, and we do have the hopeful development of vaccines, the first of which are now being administered. 

Still, we're being warned that there could be even greater darkness before the dawn if we don't act responsibly. Many families have already dealt with the reality that they won't or can't gather for Christmas and this is painful. Congregations in red and grey zones in Ontario and elsewhere won't be holding Christmas Eve services, except online. 

We are calling our service today a Service of Healing and Hope, as I always have. While we will acknowledge that many are feeling emotionally and spiritually "blue",  and, yes, we are lurching toward the solstice, we also want to uphold the Christ-light in our midst. 

You are welcome to be with us in person (we'll have all the safety protocols in place) or you can join us for our first live-stream (gulp) for Trenton UC. The service is at 6:30 and won't be long, but we hope it will be meaningful and a balm for our weary souls. You'll need to contact the church for a Zoom link, but please join us.