Silent Night

Silent night,

Holy night,

All is calm,
All is bright…

These are the opening words of one of the most recognizable of Christmas hymns.  Whether Catholic or Protestant, this hymn will be sung at Christmas Eve services all over the world.  But as a first call pastor’s wife, I’m finding that all is not calm.  Between Advent services, two Christmas Eve services, and a Christmas morning service, where is the calm? 

Since Marty feels called to be a pastor, this isn’t bothering him in the least.   But I wonder if the kids and I will need some time to adjust to the new Christmas schedule.   No longer will we be able to wake up to a leisurely morning of opening gifts and playing with our new toys.   And since we have three services in a two day time span (with different sermons, bulletins and order of worship) where do I fit in the time for a feast preparation?  Lastly, since the Black Cloister is between six hours and two day’s drive from our families, from here on out we celebrate on our own too. 

Or do we?  As I’m writing, I’m reminded of another young family far away from home.  The mother was pregnant and due any day.  The father was frantically trying to find them a room for the night.  You guessed it; I’m talking about Mary and Joseph.  As Mary and Joseph stood witness to the first Christmas (Mary, a more active participant than witness.  LOL!) Did they lament the lack of in-laws, cousins, feasting, gifts, ect?  Well, possibly; after all, it was the birth of her first child.  But they had another comfort.  In the quiet of the manger, they had each other.  They did not have the distractions of the world.  They did not have the distractions of a holiday sometimes blow so far out of proportion that they could hardly recognize it for what it was/is; a day to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. 

Oh, I’m sure I will find some new traditions to make Christmas special in our new home and new life in the parsonage.   But I think I’ve decided that being forced to do away with so much of the Christmas comings and goings will be a blessing for our family, liberating us of our secular holiday commitments and replacing them with the knowledge and hope of Jesus’ birth. 

So maybe, I started this post wrong.  I should have earlier said “without the hustle and bustle of our many Christmas traditions and commitments, Christmas is free to be ‘silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright’.”