A Message from our Minister

“A Season of Wonder & Awe”

Dear Holy Ones,

I don’t remember how old I was, but I couldn’t have been more than twelve or so.  I had just finished delivering papers on my paper route. Yes, Gen X, the last generation to have experienced the door to door delivery of the paper route.  My route ended at the top of a small hill, just up the street from my house. It had snowed earlier in the day and everything was covered with the type of snow that only seems to exist in Christmas movies and romantic winter scenes. Silver, sparkling, the newly risen moon and streetlight bouncing rays off the crystals.  It felt incredibly appropriate, seeing as it was Christmas Eve. The air was cold and crisp and your breath made smoke like incense that rose to Heaven. I followed one big exhale up as it dispersed toward the sky above my head. It was then I noticed the stars. The sky was black and clear, not a cloud leftover anywhere from the earlier snowstorm.  The multitudes of stars sparkled like the snow crystals in the moonlight. And there was one star, brighter than all the rest. Whether it was or not or whether I needed it to be or whether it was probably a planet and not a start didn’t matter, then or now. That star was shining down on me, just like the star of Bethlehem. I was beginning to question the mysteries of the faith of my Catholic upbringing and I remember wondering if stories about kings following stars to babies could be real. Yet, there I was caught in the mystery and the wonder of a star on Christmas Eve, and I remember being filled with a strange calm and felt more than heard something divine saying, “Yes.”  Yes to what? Yes, to love and peace and belonging and feeling okay with everything. And that’s how I felt at that moment. That was, I reflect each Christmas, the first time I felt touched by the profound mystery that is the divine and filled with incredible awe and wonder. In my darkest times, the memory of that mysterious “yes” carries me through. Enter into the mystery of the story as it is told again this year, and may your holiday season be filled with holy light, wonder, love, hope, and awe.

Blessings,

Rev. Tony