The Rev. Jan Griffin

    This has been a Christmas to remember! The weather has been a challenge, the church appliances and machinery have given us major pain, and I got sick just before Christmas Eve.
Thank you to Jr. Warden Ellie Baer, and to Paul Ellis, and all who grabbed a shovel to keep us open and safe, with all the snow and cold. As inconvenient and plans-changing as the weather has been, folks have been very hardy (foolhardy?), arriving for services from the outer reaches of Kennewick and the top of the West Richland hill.
The church utilities have been a challenge. Lately two toilets have needed professional attention, the ovens’ new brain died on Thanksgiving, a heat pump had a major malfunction, and the Sunday before Christmas the sump pump gave out! (The pump replacement situation is uncertain at this time … a preliminary estimate of 2-3 weeks and $2700 awaits further investigation and refinement. Meanwhile, all food events except coffee hour are cancelled or on hold, the kitchen and classroom sinks are unusable, and the downstairs rest rooms are off limits.)
Again, Ellie Baer and Paul Ellis have been a great help, Bill Cowley has overseen the heat pump repairs, and Paul is babysitting the sump pump situation. We did Christmas services with two functional toilets, and managed coffee hour today without using any kitchen sinks or dishwashers. Candles and Carols had to be cancelled due to the pump failure, and the Three Kings dinner is cancelled also. Other events may not happen on time because of the lack of a kitchen, but as much as we miss these events, it’s still Christmas without them.
And I got pneumonia! The day before Christmas Eve I said to Lisa Richmond (the office admin guru) “I haven’t felt like this since the time I had pneumonia!” Within a couple of hours, Kadlec ER confirmed my diagnosis, but a combination of medicine, prayer, and naps has driven the demon out of my chest in record time. Many thanks to all who were concerned.
It wasn’t that this was a “bad” Christmas. None of the problems were or are life-threatening or insurmountable. Christmas is not about the dinners I missed, or the need to cancel Candles and Carols and the Three Kings party. Real life intrudes upon the traditions and rituals of Christmas, reminding us that nothing we do, or don’t do, makes Christmas “perfect.” Christmas is God’s gift to us, and it is given abundantly and forever, regardless of the weather, the buildings, the coughs and sneezes of the season.
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” that’s the “perfect” Christmas! God is with us, in good times and in difficult times. And we are to be with each other, in the same spirit. “Light and life, to all he brings” and having received that light and life, we are to pass it on, year around, in Christmas-y acts of generosity and kindness. “Born to give us second birth” heralds the transformation of the heart that is the sign of an encounter with the living God.
This Christmas I’ve heard story after story of great generosity toward those in need, whether it was gifts of livestock through the Heifer Project or contributions to our Outreach fund, or household goods collected for a family burned out of its home. People with their own struggles and concerns still had time to follow the star and see it stop over a person or a family where they could offer resources for shelter, food and clothing, and new opportunity.
I pray that, whatever happened to brighten or bedevil your Christmas plans, you heard the angels sing and got a glimpse of the glory of God. Whatever is happening to us personally, or is bringing pain to others, the Light of Christ shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. Let it shine in the dark places in your life, and reflect that light into the dark places in others’ lives. That is the gift and the giving of a perfect Christmas.
May we all have a blessed New Year!

 

“O Lord, your compassions never fail, and your mercies are new every morning …” This is the way of Jesus Christ, the way that leads to life.