I made a connection with an old friend on Facebook yesterday. He and his family had been with us in Chattanooga at a church we both attended for many years, a church our kids grew up in, and one that holds many memories for us.
As I look back through the years to our time there, special Christmas memories flash through my brain, but I stop and focus on one in particular, one that still evokes the true meaning of the Holiday for me.
When J. Ralph McIntyre was pastor of our church, we used to have a service on Christmas afternoon.
Now Christmas Day is a busy time, especially for a family with kids, and there are family dinners, presents to be looked into, travel, and just relaxation, things that call loudly for our participation.
As the church doors were opened in the middle of Christmas Day, people put aside all that had gone on before that hour, and gathered in the sanctuary for a simple service of carols, communion and candles.
No choir, no sermon, no elaborate program.
An organ for the congregational singing of familiar carols, the elements of bread and juice served in the quiet, and the lighting of individual candles throughout the pews.
Quiet time for reflection, a sense of people who wanted to be there, time taken out of a busy day for the purpose of worship.
A sense of reverent joy in the advent.
I remember this as I sit today, and I smile.
Christmas is Special
May it also be this time around.
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
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