Diane’s Communion Thoughts

By popular request (from a few readers of this blog), here are Diane’s communion thoughts from last Sunday:

Christmas is coming! This time of year holds different emotions for many people depending upon their life circumstances. It’s changed for me through the years, as well. As I let my mind drift back over my own past, a stream of words and ideas came to me, representing how the meaning of Christmas has changed for me during my lifetime:

Santa, presents, joy, anticipation, giving, receiving, excitement, snowflakes, songs, jingle bells, hot chocolate, caroling, ornaments, Xmas trees, pine smells, Jesus, baby, angels, shepherds, manger, anticipation, fake Xmas trees (I’m married to a man allergic to pine), gift giving, stress, parties, exhaustion, more stress, darkness, deep sadness, aching from the soul, Jesus birth, but also his resurrection, emptiness, suffocation, tears, family, giving/receiving, love, hugs, the joy of children.

Sixteen years ago on November 21 I lost my daughter. She died at the age of 10. Many of you knew Megan. You held her, laughed with her, sang with her. Many of you didn’t get the chance to let Megan change your world, and she would have! Megan was mentally challenged and medically fragile. I watched her suffer for at least two years before her death. She died a few days before Thanksgiving. So, since then, my Thanksgivings and Christmases have never been the same. Each year since that terrible one, I have had to fight through the holidays pretending to enjoy the holidays for my own children and extended family, making myself just walk through the expected celebrations. I never wanted it to be that way, but it has just been hard.

Then, on November 15th of this year, our second granddaughter was born, Ellie. How wonderful to have something good happen during this time of year. She has brought joy and light in the midst of dark memories. God has used her and her big sister, Reese, to change my feelings about this time of year. And my joy is somehow richer and more complete because I came to it through darkness and pain.

I couldn’t help but realize that Ellie’s birth was similar to Jesus’s entrance into the world. As Ellie has brought me joy in the midst of sadness and pain, making this time precious to me again, Jesus entered a world full of darkness, pain, and despair, and we have celebrated his birth ever since. This beautiful newborn baby, Jesus, God in this child, brought forth light into the darkness. He created a new hope for his people. He has created new hope for all of us. And our joy is made complete because we have come to it through the pain of separation from Him.

So, as we share this communion today, let us be reminded of the love of God. That he used the birth of his son to help open our eyes to the joys and sorrows of this world. That as God allows us to walk through the darkness in order to come to joy, so may we walk beside others as they go through the darkness. That as he sent light into the darkness, so may we bring his light to each other. That as he sent love and joy to others, so may we also provide love and joy.