Best. Christmas. Party. Ever.

For those of you that were unable to make it out, I need to tell you that the Christmas gathering of The Table community was (in my humble opinion) outstanding. Although the pastor’s reflection may have been a bit long (isn’t it usually?!), the music was fantastic, the meal was lovely, and then the party really started! It was one of those times when something good is well planned and well carried out (and a HUGE THANK YOU to the people that planned that evening!), and out of that comes an extraordinary experience that no one could have contrived. Who would have guessed that we would spend the evening dancing to a band that just roared from one Beatles cover to another until the crowd finally let them stop? Not your average church Christmas Eve, I’m thinking…

How did your Christmas go? Was it the Best. One. Ever? Or was it the worst? Maybe somewhere in between?

I received an email from someone yesterday describing their Christmas experience at home. It was horrendous. They ended by wishing me a Christmas that was 180 degrees different from theirs. Given the story they were telling, I could only agree with their wish.

That seems to be the nature of the world we live in. It’s a mixed bag – the good (even the great), the bad and the ugly. Even our communities lovely Christmas gathering was underlined by the sadness of loss for some of those present. Somehow though, the message of Christ, the message of peace and hope that we mark in so many ways at Christmas, is meant to spill over into all of life. It is meant to reach far beyond a great evening together and into the rest of our every-day-ness.

Our gathering this Sunday will take place on a date just barely into the New Year. I think it might be time well spent to consider how that could come to be more true for all of us, and for all those whose lives touch ours.

So stir yourself out of holiday somnolence. Come at 10 to have time to acclimatize…we’ll start right around 10:30. Coffee’s on…

-Tim