Merry Christmas! One of the downsides of working retail, even creating and selling our own arty jewelry, is having worked every Christmas Eve, for gulp, 31 years. Except for last night! And one other year, which allowed us to finally accept a Christmas Eve dinner party invitation, and people are still talking about the miraculous alpine sunset of that evening in 2005.
So, with only our second Christmas Eve off since 1980, Groom and I attended our first ever candlelight church service. With a packed house, standing room only, the music was fantastic, ranging from a string trio, a choir, and a live mash up with an opera singer and her bluegrass accompaniment. It was surprising, refreshing and a lively Happy Birthday Jesus party.
There was one moment that was humorous for the audience, but I imagine not for either the teenage boy selected to light the larger candles or for the opera singer. From one large candle, representing One Spirit, all the other candles were supposed to be lit.
At the moment the young man tried to light the candle representing faith, the formally dressed opera singer belted out her first notes. She couldn’t see the flame of faith go out. The congregation did a collective gasp as it didn’t portend well at first. But the teenage boy would not be deterred. Finally giving up on his long matchstick, he picked up the column candle representing faith and turned it upside down over the big candle, hoping to catch the wick on fire.
His attempts were charming and the crowd could not help but laugh as we truly wanted that flame of faith to catch. Meanwhile, the timing of the laughter coincided with the elegant singer’s first notes, and I felt so bad that from the moment she started singing, the audience began to laugh. She kept a good game face on, and continued in spite of the distraction. And phew, the flame finally caught.
It was absolutely stunning to witness a dark room come alive with each person lighting someone else’s taper, the chapel emblazoned with hundreds of individual lights.
So, with only our second Christmas Eve off since 1980, Groom and I attended our first ever candlelight church service. With a packed house, standing room only, the music was fantastic, ranging from a string trio, a choir, and a live mash up with an opera singer and her bluegrass accompaniment. It was surprising, refreshing and a lively Happy Birthday Jesus party.
There was one moment that was humorous for the audience, but I imagine not for either the teenage boy selected to light the larger candles or for the opera singer. From one large candle, representing One Spirit, all the other candles were supposed to be lit.
At the moment the young man tried to light the candle representing faith, the formally dressed opera singer belted out her first notes. She couldn’t see the flame of faith go out. The congregation did a collective gasp as it didn’t portend well at first. But the teenage boy would not be deterred. Finally giving up on his long matchstick, he picked up the column candle representing faith and turned it upside down over the big candle, hoping to catch the wick on fire.
His attempts were charming and the crowd could not help but laugh as we truly wanted that flame of faith to catch. Meanwhile, the timing of the laughter coincided with the elegant singer’s first notes, and I felt so bad that from the moment she started singing, the audience began to laugh. She kept a good game face on, and continued in spite of the distraction. And phew, the flame finally caught.
It was absolutely stunning to witness a dark room come alive with each person lighting someone else’s taper, the chapel emblazoned with hundreds of individual lights.
Faith-O-Gram After the service, we went straight to a restaurant where a friend of ours was hosting a Christmas Eve dinner. She gathered a wonderful group of people together, with whom we broke bread, made toasts, and laughed until it was almost Christmas Day.
Her daughter, a charming three-year old, decided it was time to don her gay apparel and put on some butterfly wings. By this time, most of the other diners had left and the children had room to play. The restaurant staff was so kind and playful with us as well.
The little girl decided that she was a hummingbird and wanted to present us with nectar. She came over to where I was sitting and went through the colors of her wings, asking me which flavor I wanted. My goodness, I had all kinds of choices. I could have lemon nectar, greenbean nectar, watermelon nectar, and so on.
By the time she got to the dark eyespots, the circular, high contrast markings on her wings, she offered me “black pizza nectar,” and for the silver glittery outline, “sparkle nectar.” That may be my very favorite gift so far.
So with the same grace with which my candle was lit, and with the same sincerity I was given black pizza nectar, I offer you a Christmas Day filled with sparkle nectar.
Her daughter, a charming three-year old, decided it was time to don her gay apparel and put on some butterfly wings. By this time, most of the other diners had left and the children had room to play. The restaurant staff was so kind and playful with us as well.
The little girl decided that she was a hummingbird and wanted to present us with nectar. She came over to where I was sitting and went through the colors of her wings, asking me which flavor I wanted. My goodness, I had all kinds of choices. I could have lemon nectar, greenbean nectar, watermelon nectar, and so on.
By the time she got to the dark eyespots, the circular, high contrast markings on her wings, she offered me “black pizza nectar,” and for the silver glittery outline, “sparkle nectar.” That may be my very favorite gift so far.
So with the same grace with which my candle was lit, and with the same sincerity I was given black pizza nectar, I offer you a Christmas Day filled with sparkle nectar.
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