Christmas Eve Service, 2002

A Letter To The Choir:




Christmas Eve

I had a Jewish friend once who told me that people of her faith, when asked to describe a spiritual experience, simply said it was a ‘descending into words’ because words are just so inadequate. And this is where I find myself as I attempt to describe to you what I experienced the first year I came to our Christmas Eve service.

I came to the church not knowing exactly what to expect because even though I had been to countless Christmas Eve services, candlelight services, etc. I did not know what this would be like. The music began, bells were being played along with the piano, old familiar carols were filling the air. Then the other instruments were added and I started feeling my whole body and spirit being immersed in beautiful sound. The lump in my throat became huge and the tears began streaming down my face. Pachelbel’s Cannon nearly made me float through the roof. The choir reached out with their voices to embrace everyone there.

There are times in life when our pain is so great that we yearn to climb onto the very lap of God to be rocked. This music is what I would choose to hear as God put His arms around me to bring me comfort.

I want to thank all those who participated in giving us such a glorious night for Christmas. God touched your human endeavors and magnified them tenfold.

I stayed to hear it again into the second service, even though my spirit was overflowing. It was hard for me to leave. God blessed my Christmas through you.

A Trip To The Ocean In The Fall??

My husband had an idea.....he was ready for an adventure. Let's go check out a different North Carolina beach, somewhere we haven't been. In October, why in the world would we do that I answered. I have 4 shops to get ready for the holidays, I have 3 doctor's appointments, I'm setting up at a Bazaar. Let's just do it he replied.

Why not? We're retired. Isn't that when we are to give in to our whims and just "hit the road" when the road calls?

And so we did. We loved it. There was no traffic. The rental space was nice. People everywhere we went were friendly. I asked strangers where the good restaurants were and when we got the same answer from 3 different people we knew where to go. Scientific way to live life I say. Restaurants turned out to be amazing......beautiful views from every window and the freshest and best food to be found.

All of that was wonderful but what happened on the way home was amazing. We talked and reflected on our trip for the first couple hours and then we listened to a tape (you remember tapes....the things before cd's) of a minister giving a seminar in the 1960's. It was so interesting. We pushed pause, we discussed, we turned it off, we shared personal spiritual experiences. We wept. Nearly 27 years together and we can still have these amazing conversations where our spirits are so joined sometimes I wonder if even death can separate us?

And so it is.