December 25, 2024
Christmas Day
A Note from Pastor April and Jan Richardson
Dearly Beloved,
A warm and blessed Christmas to each of you today.
What a year it has been! I hope to see some of you this Sunday in worship on our final week of the Great Story series.
We’ll create a special service of reflection, looking back at these last three years. We invite you to bring a journal if you have one, since there will be space to use it throughout the service.
Today, however, I hope you are able just to sit in the moment and savor the gift of this day.
I offer a blessing from Jan Richardson.
Where the Light Begins
A Blessing for Christmas Day
Perhaps it does not begin.
Perhaps it is always.
Perhaps it takes
a lifetime
to open our eyes,
to learn to see
what has forever
shimmered in front of us—
the luminous line
of the map
in the dark
the vigil flame
in the house
of the heart
the love
so searing
we cannot keep
from singing,
from crying out
in testimony
and praise.
Perhaps this day
will be the mountain
over which
the dawn breaks.
Perhaps we
will turn our face
toward it,
toward what has been
always.
Perhaps
our eyes
will finally open
in ancient recognition,
willingly dazzled,
illuminated at last.
Perhaps this day
the light begins
in us.
—Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
The Rev. April Blaine
Lead Pastor
