Our First Visit to Holy Cross

He was there…

When I was a little girl, I used to enjoy one church service every year above all the others. It was the candlelight service we held on Christmas Eve. There was just something so incredible about that service and if I close my eyes and try to squeeze myself back into that little girl’s body and mind I can almost remember those feelings. First, there was this special man, Jesus, and he was there! We were celebrating his birthday and for some reason, all the people in the church were very happy. Jesus was there…and everything was good.

The air itself seemed to glisten with holiness. The whole family was there…mothers, fathers, grandmothers, aunts, uncles…babies squirmed and little children wiggled as their parents shushed and rearranged and explained…”Jesus is here. It’s time to be holy.” That’s not what they said, but that was what they meant. “Jesus is here…Jesus is here.” The big stained glass window depicting Jesus seemed to come alive that night more than any other. He was there.

There was always a lot of singing at that service. All the traditional Christmas Hymns, “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Away in a Manger,” “O Holy Night.” All the hymns talked about Jesus…because…He was there! You could feel him in the air, smell him in the pine scented wreaths, see Him in the faithful’s eyes as they greeted each other, “Merry Christmas,” hear Him in the music. It almost seemed you could touch Him…Jesus was there.

The most stirring section of the service was its conclusion with the singing of, “Silent Night.” The lights were extinguished and each person in attendance who could be trusted to hold a candle was given one to light. They flickered and shimmied as we passed the light from person to person. Once all candles were lit, we began to sing, “Silent Night, Holy Night, All is Calm, All is bright…” I swear to you, the angels were there with us in that sanctuary adding their voices to the chorus. It was Holy, the smell of the candle wax and the light reflected on the faces of the congregants. It was like no other church service. We all knew it. Jesus was there. He was there. We ended the service by singing, “Joy to the World” and carrying the candles out of the church, still lit. “Joy to the World! Light of the world.” He’s here.

This morning I attended my first ever Orthodox Christian Church Service. We were greeted by several members of the church who helped us ascertain what to “do.” Jim originally wanted to follow along in a service book, but, like I eventually decided to just “go with the flow.” Everyone was there, the whole family. I saw what I believed to be some grandparents, mothers, fathers, children, infants…there was some shushing and rearranging. Everyone stood…because Jesus was there. You could smell Him in the incense, hear him the music, see him in the faithful’s eyes. He was there. There were flickering candles and windows to heaven. The whole family really was there and the angels were rejoicing. It wasn’t Christmas Eve, but, He was there. In all my years of attending church, I’ve never felt Him quite so much.

The people were real and so was Jesus. He was there. And it was good.

And just in case you were wondering…yes…it was a bit spooky!