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O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie.
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
the everlasting light;
the hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee tonight.
Dear Friends,
A lot has happened since last Christmas.
War in the Holy Land. Extreme weather. Challenges in our city. Hungry children at Sunday Night Supper. Growing lines at the Chicago Lights Social Service Center. Some of us lost our loved ones. Some of us lost our jobs. Some of us lost our faith.
A lot of good has happened too.
Students and tutors learned together. Youth went on mission trips. Anniversaries were marked. Some of us received degrees. Some of us got married. Some of us welcomed little ones. Some of us gained our faith anew.
I don’t know what’s going to happen between now and next Christmas, but I imagine it’s going to be a lot like this past year. It’s going to be a year filled with blessing and beauty but also brokenness. And somewhere along the way in this coming year it will be helpful to remember the purpose of the Christmas story.
For at Christmas, we remember that the heart of God took on human flesh because God could not bear to stay away from the world God loves — could not bear to stay away from you whom God loves.
Here’s how I understand it: at Christmas, the God who yearns for the world put on skin and bone to be with the world that yearned too. There was a lot the world ached for, a lot we still ache for, but what God showed us is that what we really yearn for is love. Knowing we are loved. Knowing that we belong in the world. That the world has a place for us because we are so loved.
Love is what we yearn for most of all. That’s the meaning behind our God aching to be with us. Love like that finds you. Love like that shows up and doesn’t let you go.
I don’t know what this coming year will bring to you or to our world. It’s likely to be a mixture of joy and heartache, but no matter what awaits, fear not. Christ is born. Love shows up. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in God at Christmas. We are loved. Alleluia.
To give thanks for that love, I invite you to make a year-end gift so that God’s love can be made known in our various ministries of beauty and mercy and we can continue to do the good that is ours to do.
And I hope you will join us in worshiping at one of our Christmas services — whether that be in person or online. It’s a love worth remembering and celebrating.
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