Tonight, the three of us walked down to the local university chapel to attend the annual candlelight advent service. It's a spectacular event, full of pipe organs, string instruments, biblical verses, carols, and a choir whose voices fill the chapel, and then some.
I was so happy that Beatrix was able to attend this year. Life is inevitably fuller than normal, these days. A three-year-old is a very good reminder of just how full. Between the moments of magic and awe, come the moments of break-down and crash. It's a hard thing to balance. And sometimes we can't and we just have to find a way to enjoy the ride. We could have skipped the performance, but I felt that of all the moments I want her to experience during this season, this was one of them.
The truth of the matter was that we were all feeling tired and stretched, and could've just as easily stayed home. Yet by the end of the service, when the entire church stood in darkness and each of us, Beatrix included, had an opportunity to add our own individual light to the collective whole by simply lighting our candle from our neighbor beside us, I felt a rush of gratitude for the opportunity to stand, in some elusive way, united with the other attendees. We began to sing Silent Night and Beatrix joined in, as one of us. United. Her little voice... so strong and so pure was Christmas magic to this mama's heart.
Yes, we all have a bright, shining light within us. Sometimes its buried so deeply in our own darkness we can only fathom what its strenth must be. But, what a wonder it is to catch a glimmer.
It sounds perfect. Everything that Christmas should be. What a wonderful experience for Beatrix to have stored away in her soul.
Posted by: Helen | December 12, 2012 at 06:22 PM