Sunday, December 09, 2007

Caroling, Caroling Now We Go!

Tonight, we went Christmas caroling around the neighborhood behind the church. You would think that a simple concept like walking around the area homes, singing carols, would be --well, simple! No less than four staff meetings, three volunteer children's workers, and two-full time pastors were involved in bringing about the fruition of one person's romantic holiday idea.

It was, quite simply, a smashing success. Everybody pitched in to help, with plenty of adults to supervise the children. There were candy canes to give out, along with invitations to our Christmas musical presentation, next Sunday night, and hot cocoa and cookies for all to enjoy after the caroling. We had printed lyric sheets for all the words. (Who can remember every verse, for all the carols, even the most popular ones?) And we had flashlights, to read the words, and maps to direct the teams.

The response to our musical overture was varied, some listened inside closed doors, and never responded at all, but most came to the door. One little old lady cried, and another one tried to give us money. Most were pleasantly receptive; we only sang one or two verses, and then resounded with "Merry Christmas" at each home.

Rosy-cheeked cherubs, all tired out from their winter walk, devoured their cookies and candy canes, and sipped hot chocolate after the caroling was over. It was worth all the effort.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

My Song in the Night

MY SONG IN THE NIGHT
Southern Folk Hymn
arr. Paul J. Christiansen

O Jesus my Savior, my song in the night,
Come to us with Thy tender love,
my soul’s delight.
Unto Thee, O Lord, in affliction I call,
My comfort by day, and my song in the night.

O why should I wander, an alien from Thee,
Or cry in the desert Thy face to see?
My comfort and joy, my soul’s delight,
O Jesus my Savior, my song in the night.

My song in the night, my song in the night,
in the night, in the night, in the night.

O Jesus my Savior, my song in the night.
Come to us with Thy tender love,
my soul’s delight.
My comfort and joy, my soul’s delight,
O Jesus my Savior, my song in the night.

My song my song in the night,
in the night, my song
My comfort and joy, my soul’s delight.
O Jesus my savior, my song in the night,
in the night. My song in the night.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Out of the Darkness? or not?

I ran across a fascinating book title the other day: The Light Belongs In the Darkness by Patricia King. It grabbed my attention, because it seemed so wrong to me-- light and darkness do not co-exist. Light forces darkness out, it drives the darkness away.

God spoke to me through that title. No, I didn't hear a voice in my head. It just seemed clear to me, almost as if the thought was spoken aloud: "There is your answer to the question you always ask: Why did God send a depressed person to Alaska to live in darkness?"

I belong here, because my light was meant to shine brighter in the darkness.