We enter this house of worship in mixed mood:
The calendar says this is the darkest and coldest time of year.
Our coats come out of the closet; our hats cover our heads;
The gloves go on our hands and we prepare ourselves for winter.
Our spirits go into hibernation against the chilling cold.
At the same time our calendars tell us it is the joyous season:
Music fills the air; expectancy fills every child-like heart;
Familiar carols come instinctively from our hearts
And the celebration of new life entering the world moves us.
Yet our festivities come in a world reeling with violence;
War and rumors of war fill the air along with songs of the season.
We wonder how should we feel - we who live in comfort
While others half a world away suffer the wounds of war
And others here at home face empty chairs at their tables.
In our wiser moments we know life is like that -
It is a mix of good and evil, right and wrong, joy and sorrow.
Yet the human spirit is strong - somehow it survives -
Somehow we know our lives are biased for hope.
Somehow we know the universe unfolds as it should
And we take its caprice in our stride.
The human race continues its uneven ways
And we make the best of it.
In this holiday season, then, we lift up our eyes to the stars
And know joy shall rise again in the morning.
return to main page