I’ll get my commercial out of the way first. We are having a blue Christmas service at our 6PM reflective service at First Presbyterian here in Alton Saturday, December 21. (Let us know at the church if you plan to join us).My aunt could have used a service such as this. When she lost her third child of nine to a car crash, she was unwilling to put up a christmas tree for 20 years.
Why a blue Christmas service? First, many of us feel assaulted by the constant bombardment of good cheer that is demanded of us at this time of year. for people who are depressed, it may be asking too much heroic expenditure of energy. for those who have lost a love done, it may be impossible to get into the Christmas spirit. for those who have struggled with a vexing problem, the childlike wonder of the season escapes them.
In our time, church services have capitulated to the cultural command to be positive.We do not give people sufficient permission to hold to the feelings and thoughts they experience at certain junctures in life. We organize the season around making cute pageants for the children, and that is fine with me. It is not fine with me that we neglect or indeed castigate those who are having a hard time when they feel no comfort and joy this year. Christma sis indeed for children, but it is for all people, in all circumstances. All of the sentimentality we load on this holiday is part of our deep desire to try to deny the impact of loss and hardship on the hearts and minds of people.
So a service such as a blue Christmas service first acknowledges the pain people carry during the holidays. Admitting it in public also helps to normalize it when it can be shared with others. While I tend to shy away from aesthetic viewpoints in liturgy, I would affirm that we can see the light break into the darkness when we first are able to own the darkness, to admit its fearsome presence.
It could not have been cheery for the Holy Family to be far from home, in a borrowed stable room on Christmas. It must have been terrifying that the Magi gifts brought with them the threat of assassination at the hands of Herod. Then they went into exile back into Egypt for some time, according to matthew. The early life of the new family was spent on the road and on the run.
Christmas can warm hears or break hearts. Listen to all of the melancholy songs this time of year, including elvis and Blue Christmas.I like the story of Frank Sinatra asking the lyricist to replace until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow with hang a shining star upon the highest bough as he thought the original just too sad. I love to look at children’s picture books for christmas. A surprising number of them, such as the wonderful Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, have a heartwarming message that can occur only after the set-up is the pain carried by people at this season.
Immanuel means God with us. that cannot mean god is with us only in sweet days and notions of sugar plums. God is with us in the deepest valley of the shadow. christmas can help dispel the shadows, but a resolute refusal to admit their existence obscures the Christmas light as well. then maybe can can all sing and experience a silent night when the hurting offices are stilled and all could indeed seem calm and bright.
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