As the carols are sung, gifts purchased and lights displayed, not everyone feels the same joy and warmth during the Christmas season.
“They may sing all the songs and just act like everything is joyful and they may want to do that, but inside, something needs to be acknowledged: grieving over a recent loss, loss from a long time ago, and family not being able to be together over Christmas,” explains the Rev. Sue Hamly of Faith United Church.
“Underneath all the business and excitement of Christmas may be a sadness,” she added.
In an effort to acknowledge the “blue” feelings that some people experience during the season, the church will again offer a “Blue Christmas” service at 7 p.m. Dec. 21, the winter solstice, also known as the longest night. After that date, the hours of daylight begin to get longer.
The service is open to all people of any denomination or need, said Hamly. It is a quiet, healing service illuminated by many candles at the church, said Hamly.
“We hope to give people an opportunity to acknowledge, that amid everything else that Christmas is, it can be a difficult time, a time to remember,” she said.
The service offers people a chance to light a candle for a person or situation they are thinking about, said Hamly. In addition, the service offers the opportunity for a “laying on of hands for healing,” and a time for meditation.
Traditional readings and Christmas carols are sung, but the whole atmosphere within the church is geared toward quiet darkness.
Conducting the service on the longest night of the year is symbolic of the idea that “Jesus is the light of the world, a light that shines in the darkness,” she said.
“People from our church come because they love it, whether or not they have a grief need, and because it is just a beautiful service,” said Hamly.
Hamly said the service offers a quiet break from the hectic hustle and bustle that often accompanies Christmas for many people.
“Come to the service and take a little time for yourself,” she urged. “Relax and put all the stuff away that makes you feel stressed out. Enjoy the words and the music.”
Hamly said the lyrics of “The Longest Night,” a song by Peter Mayer which is played during the service, are symbolic of the intent of the service. A portion of the lyrics of the song follow:
Light a candle, sing a song
Say that the shadows shall not cross
Make an oblation out of all you’ve lost
In the longest night
Gather friends and cast your hopes
Into the fire as it snows
And stare at God through the dark windows
Of the longest night
Of the year
Maybe peace hides in a storm
Maybe winter’s heart is warm
And maybe light itself is born
In the longest night
In the longest night
Of the year
Readings during the service include those that discuss dealing with loss and coming to find the Christmas spirit through it all, said Hamly.
Following the service, people may sit in the sanctuary and are invited into the fireside room where hot cider and cookies will encourage people to visit, she said.
“If you don’t feel like that and just need to leave after the service, you can do that, but if you want to be with other people, there is the opportunity,” said Hamly.
Hamly said she first heard about the Blue Christmas service via a computer network she belonged to, and noted that Canadian churches often offer the service.
She offered the service a couple times and then skipped a year. Now, it’s become a regular part of the Christmas season, she said. “It’s something I enjoy doing, it’s different, with it being held at night when it’s dark,” she said.
Hamly is a Reiki master healer, which stems from Eastern traditions focusing on healing energy.
She will offer a laying on of hands in the tradition prior to the service.
