Why church for Christmas?

I took the picture of the sanctuary at Holy Cross last week, after the last of the Advent decorations went up. Light, dark, luminarias on the chancel, and the Creche. These elements are the reason I go to church.

Life is far from easy. The nights are cold right now, and I take note of the humanity huddled on the streets of our town. I have the privilege of knowing about so much of the struggle that people I know and serve as pastor are going through. There is grief, there is emptiness, there are feelings of failure, and fear for the future.

So I go to church. Because I have found people there to be trying hard to be real – not to hide behind busy-ness and noise – but to let the story of Christmas touch them.  Continue reading “Why church for Christmas?”