Service of Reflection for the Longest Night December 14, 2023, 4:00pm 

Service of Reflection for the Longest Night December 14, 2023, 4:00pm 

Rev. Sally Bullas 

Musician: Dorothy Dittrich 

We acknowledge these lands upon which we worship are the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation. 

Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here! 

Welcome & Announcements 

For the most part, Christmas is a time of celebration and joy. For many, however, it is a difficult and weighty time of year accompanied by grief, loss, depression, anxiety, financial stress, unemployment, uncertainty, aging parents, sick children, recent diagnoses, unknown illnesses.  We gather this afternoon prepared to be honest about the grief that bears upon us.  We open ourselves to hearing the consolation found in the Holy One’s presence and love, and the joy that comes from memory and a sense of shared peace.  As you arrive, you are invited to light a tea light in memory of a loss or acknowledgement of personal struggle.   

Prelude   

Putting Word to Our Experience of Grief and Loss                            

(From “In Blackwater Woods” by Mary Oliver)

Every year everything

I have ever learned in my lifetime leads back to this: the fires

and the black river of loss whose other side is salvation,

whose meaning

none of us will ever know.

To live in this world you must be able

to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it

against your bones knowing

your own life depends on it;

and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.                                                                                                                                                                

Hymn: Come and Find the Quiet Centre                               VU #374 
1Come and find the quiet centre in the crowded life we lead, find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed: clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see all the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.                                                          

 2Silence is a friend who claims us, cools the heat and slows the pace, God it is who speaks and names us, knows our being, face to face, making space within our thinking, lifting shades to show the sun, raising courage when we're shrinking, finding scope for faith begun.

3In the Spirit let us travel, open to each other's pain, let our loves and fears unravel, celebrate the space we gain: there's a place for deepest dreaming, there's a time for heart to care, in the Spirit's lively scheming there is always room to spare!               

Opening Words:   

One: Holy One, you are with us in times of trouble and in times of     peace; in times of sorrow and times of joy.  

All: When we are unsure of how to continue living and loving,            your Spirit intervenes with sighs too deep for words.  One: Speak for us now, Loving God.  Comfort us with your abiding    peace…

(invitation to sit silence)

Musical Interlude               Dorothy Dittrich, piano; Pat Armstrong, violin

One: All life is precious in God’s sight. No one is ever alone or           forgotten. Come, let us gather in the Spirit of hope and peace.

Bringing Light to our Lamenting 

Reading: Psalm 22:1-2 (NRSV) 

One: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so    far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I    cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night but find  no rest.

Response  

All: Are you there, God?  It’s me. I need to hear your voice. I need to feel you holding me. I need to feel you wipe my tears gently. 

Prayer for Peace 

One: Holy One, you are with us in times of trouble and in times of peace; in times of sorrow and times of joy. When we are unsure of how to continue living and loving, your Spirit intervenes with sighs too deep for words. Speak for us now, Loving God. Comfort us with your abiding peace…  

(We light a candle for peace) 

Hymn: Spirit of Life                                                                VU #381 
Spirit of Life, come unto me.

Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion. Blow in the wind, rise in the sea; move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice. Roots hold me close; wings set me free; Spirit of Life, come to me, come to me.

Reading: Psalm 139:7-12 (NRSV) 

One: Where can I go from your spirit?  Or where can I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.  If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall    lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.  If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and night wraps itself around me,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.

Response 

All: Are you there, God?  I need to learn to redefine my life.  

       I need to redefine worth, beauty, time, friendship, love, family. 

Prayer for Faith 

One: God of all, when we feel alone, you draw nearer; when we lose     our footing, you guide us toward a good path. Through the ages,     you have promised to be a comfort to your people, and you call us     to be a comfort to others. In all our living, may we never lose the     memory of our most cherished relationships, and may we feel the  courage and strength you offer to us through those who surround us…

(We light a candle for faith)

Hymn: Spirit of Life                                                                 VU#381  
Spirit of Life, come unto me.

Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion. Blow in the wind, rise in the sea; move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice. Roots hold me close; wings set me free; Spirit of Life, come to me, come to me.    

Reading: Romans 13:11-12 (The Message) 

One: But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted    in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose    track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is     about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what    God is doing!  

Response  

All: Are you there, God?  Help me, loving One, help me. Walk beside me. Help me to find wholeness.  Add your breath to    mine as I cry out for hope in this strange, new, old place. 

Prayer for Hope and Joy 

One: God of hope and joy, you prepare our hearts for renewal. You till the soil of our lives and nurture small shoots of possibility. Even when we are unsure, you repeat your promise: I will never leave you. Open us, Holy One, to your promise. Hold us in your care. Strengthen us for your future. Guide us in anticipation of new possibilities.  

(We light candles for hope and joy)                                                              

Sung Response: In the Quiet Curve of Evening                (VU #278) 
                                                                                          Sung by John Bulla

The Christ Candle is Lit 

One: The peace of Christ lights our way.

All: The joy of Christ brightens our lives. 

One: The love of Christ comforts and challenges.

All: And the darkness has not overcome it.                          

(Christ Candle is lit)

Words of Faith to Leave With 

One: May we be gentle with ourselves, remembering that we are     created with God’s care to mind and heart.   

All: May we go into the world with honesty and thanksgiving,    embracing tears, laughter and all that is good.  

One: May we remember that new growth always starts in the darkest of places.  

All: Together, we give you thanks, we give you praise, and we    give you ourselves with longing hearts,  

One: knowing that through your love we are born on the wings of grace and held secure in the palm of your hand.  Amen.   

Postlude