Christmas Spirit

Christmas Eve morning started on a difficult note with the sound of tires spinning on the ice on the streets surrounding our home. The prior few days of light snow, rain, and freezing temperatures had made an ice skating rink out of our roads and pavements. All of the council offices were closed, so we were essentially left to fend for ourselves. When we bundled up and went outside to help, we found almost all of our neighbours doing the same. We all made for various grit boxes in the neighbourhood and filled pails and bags with salt and grit. Everyone pitched in - young and old, parents and children, and with the help of the grit, along with muscle applied to shovels, pitchforks, brooms and wood planks, we cleared the streets and pavements. Neighbours that we scarcely see shouted christmas greetings, and it proved again the adage that a difficult time usually brings out the best in people. By lunch time we were proud of our accomplishment and feeling in a good community spirit.

We were glad to be able to get out so that in the late afternoon we could visit a good friend and her mother who had just come home from the hospital. After a nice visit with them we went to my partners' sister and her family for a lovely Christmas Eve supper. After supper we returned home for a brief rest before heading into town for the 11.30 PM Eucharist at the Cathedral.

Be getting there before the doors even opened, we were able to find good seats in the quire, and it turned out to be one of the most moving services I have ever attended.

At the beginning of the service, all the lights in the Cathedral were dimmed, with only the candles in the quire stalls and four or five large advent candles providing light. The choir entered, carrying candles and singing the first verse of "O Little town of Bethlehem" through the darkened aisles. Then the lights came on, the congregation rose, and all joined in the with the second and following verses of the hymn. It was a beautiful beginning to a very beautiful service. Music throughout the service was magnificent, the Dean preached a very good sermon, and one could not have left without really feeling the true meaning of Christmas.

The message in the order of service stated that celebration would be a spiritual pilgrimage to the manger at Bethlehem, and said that it "may (through all the candlelight, the shimmer of gold and the interweaving of words and music) bring us to our knees in silent stillness, as we acknowledge God's continuing love for us and all men, women and children, revealed supremely in this birth and this life, centuries ago." We left singing the final verse to Adeste Fidels, "Yea, Lord we greet thee, Born this happy morning. . . ."