A few Sundays ago we were preparing for one of my favorite Christmas traditions. A Blue Christmas Remembrance service at the Des Moines Vineyard. In the middle of all the hustle and bustle and shining lights, we make a place for folks to come who feel more darkness than lights. We make a place for those who have loved and lost folks, to come and remember and share their life with others. How can that be a favorite? I find hope there, yes hope. In the middle of the sorrow I see comfort, in the pain I see healing. I see the images of God in the stories shared about those who have gone on from this world. It’s almost as if we are pushing against the glass and getting a glimpse of heaven on the other side. It is a holy place as one by one people light a candle and share. At the end of the service folks take their candle and flower with them as they go. Suddenly the room fills with light and beauty, yes it is Holy.
It is a living picture of John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
We also had an unexpected Sunday surprise. Mike and I are transitioning from co-leading the Des Moines Vineyard. We have served the purposes of God in our generation and now we get to mentor and cheer on the next generation as they serve God’s purposes in the world. It will be a different song, with a different rhythm I am sure. I am equally sure it will be good, very good. We were given this Bible in the picture, a journal Bible. People were invited to write something to share with us beside a verse or passage. It’s a beautiful gift. Not unlike the Remembrance Service, it has become a beautiful living story of peoples lives jumping off the pages and glorifying God. It’s been a privilege to be an ‘accidental’, ‘unofficial’ pastor with Mike all these years. It seems like a farm girl from Illinois would end up being a shepherd one way or another.
May Christ’s church continue to shine their light in the darkness, knowing that He will not let the darkness overcome it. Emmanuel, God with us, yes he is indeed.