The beacon

A report from Alison Cooper on the success of our first            Tidings of Comfort  Service

 

On December 13^th we lit the Advent candles for a different kind of Christmas service.

 

We lit the candle of love to acknowledge the things that rob us of love: divorce, separation, death and estrangements that have taken love from us.

 

We lit the candle of peace to acknowledge the things that rob us of peace: quarrels, bitterness, envy and jealousy that have taken peace from us.

 

We lit the candle of joy to acknowledge the things that rob us of joy: worry, despair, pain and fatigue that have taken joy from us.

 

We lit the candle of hope to acknowledge the things that rob us of hope: unemployment, financial hardship and illness that have taken hope from us.

 

And then we lit our own       candles to acknowledge the individual worries and        challenges that we each face.  And we prayed for love, peace, joy and hope in the Christmas season.

 

 

 

 

 

There was caring and comfort and support for each other.  There were some tears, but they were healthy tears.  And there were truly                    Tidings of Comfort                  for those who most needed comfort in the darkest days of December.

 

Many thanks to those who made the service possible: to those who helped to plan and carry it out (you know who you are), and to Andrew Human and the Kirk of Session for seeing the possibility and supporting this new ministry.