Silent Night

Since i just shared about our "not so silent night", it reminded about a special night a few weeks ago. Our church often has a Candlelight Christmas Eve service.

This year they did it on Jan 30th instead. Abigail(9) and Josiah (11)were also baptized the same night.

Abby was evidently freezing in the baptismal tank, but her sincere love of God was even more evident.

Josiah was next and was standing in the tank while they were finishing Abby's favorite song from the hymnal, "All the Trees of the Field". It is such a joyful song and appropriate for her to pick. Josiah could barely contain himself and Pastor commented later that his Bible was getting wet from Josiah's exuberance.

After the baptisms, we sang carols. It is always a special time and my favorite part of this service is when they play Mannheim Steamrollers' Silent Night. All lights are turned off. The pastor stands at the front with a single candle and then lights the candles of the two people on either side who then light the next candles.

All while listening to the most beautiful instrumental version of Silent Night I have ever heard. Here is a picture of Emma and Quin who were so delighted to be able to hold their own candle this year.



What was once covered in darkness is now beautifully aglow with candlelight. A wonderful symbol of how we can affect the world for God, one light at a time.