Twas
Three Months Before Christmas, and All Through the Casa…
celebrate.
were blessed to live and serve at Casa Shalom. At the casa, there is a huge
barn full of clothes, kind of like a thrift store. We really enjoyed sorting
through these and playing dress-up while preparing for a huge yard sale to
raise money for Casa Shalom. Something we found in abundance were
sweaters-heaps and heaps of sweaters, some trendy, some cute, and some
downright ridiculous.
I had heard of
Tacky Sweater Parties before, but had never been privileged enough to
participate in one. After finding the 20th crazy sweater, Erin and I
decided we needed to have an Ugly Sweater party. I was in charge of worship
that week, so I told her it would be after worship.
Little did she
(and everyone not on my team) know, worship that week was CHRISTMAS-themed. Last year, I was feeling a little
disenchanted with Christmas. I knew it was worth celebrating because it was our
Savior’s birth, but I asked God to show me the Christ in Christmas. He really
showed up, and Christmas songs that had long been my favorite took on new
meanings, enriched by the new understanding of the faith I was receiving.
(Check out the blogs here and here.) Many of these songs are some of the most
worshipful written, but we only sing them once a year. I wanted to use them to
worship that Friday night. I wanted to share the stories behind some favorites,
like O Holy Night and 12 Days of Christmas.
Thankfully, my
team was fully on board for a creative worship night, so we launched into it.
Each person found their ugly sweater and their research for a Christmas song.
We bought some hot chocolate and some cake to celebrate, and Leyna and I spent
a few hours cutting out snowflakes for decorations. We told the other two teams
that the party was right after worship, so make sure you wear your outfits.
And then when
they walked in to a “winter wonderland,” we yelled, “Merry Christmas.” We drank
our cocoa and shared the stories and enjoyed finding new meaning and worship in
these songs. Santa Claus came to visit. It was a great time to celebrate with
half our squad, and I really enjoyed it.
*Did you know
that the first words spoken over the radio were the beginning of the book of
Luke? And the first song ever broadcast was O Holy Night?
*Did you know
that the song 12 days of Christmas was used to teach Catechism at a time where
Catholics were persecuted in England for their faith?
**Did you know
that a seemingly crazy French soldier started to sing Cantique de Noel (O Holy
Night) during the Franco-Prussian war, and it stopped the fighting for 24
hours?
*Have you thought
about the theology present in the song Hark the Herald Angels Sing?
*Do you remember the line in O Holy
Night,
“Chains
he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.”
Does that resonate with you? Does it
remind you of human trafficking and the 27 million slaves in the world today?
Because it reminded an abolitionist named John Sullivan Dwight of the
oppression happening to American slaves, and became a rallying cry in a Christmas carol for ending slavery.
God
is in this-in Christmas carols and tacky sweater parties, in community and in
solitude. It was amazing to find him in these places this last month.
