Advent 2020: Blue Christmas

Have you ever felt as though you were watching a divine moment in action before your very eyes? It happened to me years ago at the Blue Christmas service at our church. A friend of mine had lost her husband the year before so I invited her to come to the service with me because the holidays are especially difficult when you lose your loved one. She agreed. We both wept off and on through this tender service, but the moment I will never forget came afterwards, when another one of her friends, who had already suffered the loss of both of her children years before, came up to my friend to offer comfort. My friend hugged her and said, “I should be comforting you.” Both women knew the deep sorrow of loss and both offered love and comfort to one another. Isn’t this what Jesus showed us over and over again? Isn’t Jesus the reason the world rejoiced when he arrived in a lowly stable? In his humble birth, he offered to fully experience everything humans do…joy, sorrow, friendship, comfort, sacrifice, and love.

The Blue Christmas service is a beautiful service to pray over those hurting from loss whether through loss of life, job, relationships, health, and more. This particular service offered a blue glass stone to take with us to be reminded of the tears of others during difficult times. It also was to remind us that God is with us through all of life’s moments. I still have it in my kitchen so I see it every day.