Are you suffering the loss of a loved one, living with life altering circumstances, illness, loneliness, depression & unemployment which are often magnified this time of year? Do you feel the stress of preparing for Christmas? If so join us for our Longest Night Service, December 21, 2012, 10:00 AM & 7:00 PM, St. Thomas Lutheran Church, 135 Salmon St., Brick, NJ 732-477-5533.
In the Northern Hemisphere, December 21 is the longest night, the winter solstice, which means literally "standing still." It marks the shortest day of the year, the official start of winter, when the sun is the farthest distance from the earth. Tradition says that nature and all her creatures stop and hold their breath to see if the sun will turn back from its wanderings, if the days will lengthen and the earth will once again feel the sun's warmth.
In the gathering darkness of December, we anticipate the coming again of the Light of the world. It may only be the hope that marks Advent's waiting that keeps us looking toward the coming of Christ. It may also be that the blue of the Advent season (which symbolizes hope) is the very remedy we need for what makes us feel "blue" at Christmas.
