A Light in the Darkness
By Karen Haave
The holidays are here and everything out there seems “merry and bright.”
But you are not alone if you’re not feeling it.
Struggling to combat that holiday emptiness, loneliness and emotional fatigue is no easy task. That’s where the Shortest Day/Longest Night worship service can help.
Offered annually at Peace Lutheran Church in New Lenox, the mid-December liturgy acknowledges and emphasizes that Christmas sometimes can be more painful than joyful.
Also known as a Blue Christmas Service, the Shortest Day/Longest Night observance allows those who have felt loss of any kind, including death, divorce, job, family estrangement, to recognize that they are not alone.
At the same time, it recognizes the pain that the holiday season can cause, with its constant refrain of family, celebration, affluence and happiness.
“At this time of the year, I think people need to feel connected,” the Rev. Gary Erickson, interim pastor for the congregation, said.
With all the gifts, “You’ll feel better for a moment, but if there’s no connection in that exchange, there will be that sense of emptiness.
“So, if someone does not have family or a friend or neighbor to talk to, they can reach out to congregations like this one for help.
“I’d like people to know that, as Christians, we understand that not every part of life is happy. But God is with us in good times and bad.”
In the Call to Worship, the congregation prayed, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never been able to extinguish it. In this season of our longest nights, we offer to you the pain in our hearts that some of us cannot put into words.”
“God, some of us are grieving over what might have been,” Deacon Shari Simon said in her prayer.
“Someone has died. Someone has left us. Someone has moved away. We have lost a job. We have lost a dream, a goal, a cause. We find ourselves adrift, alone, lost in a terrifying new world. This season reminds us of all that used to be, and cannot be anymore.
“We know we will go back to the ordinary world where others may not understand, but we give you thanks that you have called us here tonight. Help to let our inner selves be open to your compassion and healing power.”
The congregation concluded the prayer, “This is our longest night, Lord. Please be near us.”
Peace Lutheran Church is located at 1900 E. Lincoln Highway in New Lenox, across from Lincoln-Way Central High School. For more information, call (815) 485-5327 (815) 485-2688 Fax or online at [email protected].
Karen Haave is a freelance reporter.