Dear people of Bethlehem,
Blessed New Year to you! As you receive this newsletter, we are still counting down the 12 days of Christmas, which is a wonderful way to end 2025 and begin 2026. We will hold tightly to the promise of light in our darkness and the gifts of hope, joy and peace this season brings. We will strain our ears to hear the voice of the angels in our own sky, singing “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace.”
I am so grateful to all who joined us for worship in this Christmas season. We formed a community of heart and light. The children’s program, combined with the blessing of the animals, was exactly the joyous and blessed chaos Bethlehem dearly loves. It was an all are welcome at the manger day. The next Sunday “The Christmas Carol” brought us to tears, and to the joy of the season. My deep gratitude to Jamie Newcomb and Ursula Meyers for such poignant story of sorrow and joy.
On Christmas Eve you all came bearing your light. You brought your hopes and dreams and your tears and yourselves. What a gift. At the 7 pm service on Christmas Eve, we welcomed Cantor Larry Kornit of Congregation B’nai Tikvah. Cantor Larry is a dear friend of the congregation. When I met Larry a number of years ago, I was struck by his heart, his humor and his strong voice. We have been friends ever since. He has long offered to sing “O Holy Night” for us on Christmas Eve. This was the year for that gracious gift. His strong voice filled our sanctuary, and all our hearts, with the hope of this season, with healing and warmth, and with the certainty that peace on earth is God’s gift for us all. There is much in this world of pain and loss. There is much that would separate us by faith, nation, creed or belief. But as a Jewish cantor sang, “O Holy Night” in a Lutheran Church on Christmas Eve, something resplendent happened. All those truths receded in the presence of a far greater truth. God’s love supersedes it all, hope indeed lights our way, and peace is a powerful force undergirding us all. We felt its power that night, and I feel it still. Thank you Cantor Larry.
Hanukkah ended this year, just as Christmas began. With our Jewish siblings, we shared the carrying of the light. As their holy days ended, ours began. The light of Hanukkah and the light of the star of Bethlehem, remind us that the light we carry cannot be diminished. Let us hold that promise and carry that hope into this new year.
Peace to you, Shalom to you, Pastor Laura