Not Quite Christmas
Dec 20, 2020
Are those lights at the end of the tunnel? Maybe when we gather this Sunday, we’ll find out. 🙂
We’re on the cusp of Christmas, which can be a place fraught with expectations of all kinds. For some, it’s giddy expectation. For others, it’s more akin to “if we make it through December, we’ll be fine”. And, of course, all the complex blends in between. I think it’s important to name some of that range of feelings as part of doing what we can to engage this season with whatever it brings us, and whatever we can bring to it. Part of what it brings with it is our annual community gathering, Not Quite Christmas.
Some of you may know this, but there is an actual historic reason why we call our gathering by that name. Back in the olden days (Before Covid), we usually gathered to mark Christmas after the date had passed. We did that because the month before was so full of other events that it didn’t feel like a gift to the community to add one more. We also wanted to free up people’s calendars on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so that we could all make the most of time with family and friends on days when the world tended to take a break from work. This year the first of those reasons has been cancelled, but the second still feels as though it may be valid for many, even with all the present restrictions on gathering.
And thankfully, there are no limits on how many of us can gather online! 🙂 I realize that this plan has changed so many times you may be wondering if it’s real, but here’s what is actually in the works.
We will gather for Not Quite Christmas in two online locations – our Facebook page and our Youtube channel. The program itself is pre-recorded (A huge THANK YOU! to everyone that sent in contributions to this collaborative endeavor), and will be scheduled to play at 10:45 a.m. on
Facebook.. It will be uploaded separately to Youtube, so if that is your preferred way to access content just follow this
YouTube link. The program itself is just a bit over 30 minutes long, and will remain available on both those media after it plays. This will impact a couple of other important aspects of our online gathering practices, as follows:
Music – there’s a fair bit in the program, but we won’t be doing anything “live” this Sunday morning.
Community Time – please feel free to post to our Facebook page, as usual. I’ll be moderating that in the Comments section of Facebook during the program.
And Lunch After – our Sunday Zoom Hangout – will be at 11:30 a.m. rather than 12:30, so that it can follow more directly on the program. It’ll be our opportunity to see one another and to chat in a way that I’m hoping can feel more like what would happen around the shared meal that we typically enjoy at this celebration. NOTE: this part takes place only in Zoom. You can comment on the Facebook page any time, but the moderated comment interaction will end before the Zoom chat begins.
Here’s where you can find the Sunday Hangout online: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81978070666?pwd=aWc2SjFWWE1sZUVMNG5IUi9VQ0duZz09
I’ll see you on Sunday! It’s almost (but Not Quite) Christmas…
Peace,
Tim Plett