I may not know a lot of things, but I do know that Christmas is about something truly grand, and that it fights against all that would tear creation apart.
Christmas Eve deals with the local congregation, but also the family of all Creation. It deals with the personal and the systemic. Broken hearts and broken systems. People and peoples searching for hope. And that’s precisely where God-with-us breaks into the world.
Christmas Eve services are unique to each church. Sure, most churches share many traditions in common – lighting of a Christ Candle, singing “Silent Night” by candlelight, hearing the familiar passages of scripture again, singing all the other great Christmas songs that the pastor won’t let the congregation sing during Advent (I was one of those pastors!). But each church brings its own flavor to Christmas Eve. That’s why Christmas in the Family of Creation is not an entire worship service, not a “one size fits all” liturgy, but a collection of readings and prayers, a meditation piece, and a Christ Candle-lighting liturgy.
Christmas is about a power that can transform individual lives and whole systems, and it calls us to participate in that transformation. Christmas reminds us we are not alone, we can do this hard work, and we can celebrate in the midst of it all. Life triumphs! Christ is born!
The above quotes in italics come from sections of the collection. The entire collection is in a PDF document.