"Jesus wept."
It's the simplest sentence in the entire bible. Also the most profound.
It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Shopping, watching Christmas movies, addressing your stack of cards, baking cookies... even a little visiting with friends and volunteering thrown in there so you feel you are really catching the meaning of the season.
I went to a "Grace for the Wounded" service last night. It was eye opening and it made cry. How easily we forget that the Christmas season isn't all white snow and savior's birth for everyone. A lot of people have been wounded by their families in profound and deep ways. A lot of that wounding took place at Christmas, the time when families gather together.
Three people got up and apologized. One was a woman. One was a man. One was a minister. They represented all women who had ever wronged someone, all men who had ever wronged someone, and the entire church and its representatives for ignoring the problem or adding to the list of wrongs.
Anyway, it was certainly something. I am going to try to remember this when I have a congregation someday. Help me to remember that we are a broken people. All of us to some degree. And that we need a little grace and a little healing.... especially this time of year. Me included.
2 comments:
I'm curious, still... "Grace for the Wounded" service? Is there an actual definition of this?
The guy leading it thought it up three years ago. He said it was his way of getting from December 18th to Christmas day. "Wounded" being people that have been through some sort of trauma in their lives.
So there's no actual definition of the service... other than a chance for some healing and way to get through the holidays.
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