I attended a service at my church this evening.
It was a service called the "Hanging of the Greens."

This service is a time when the church is transformed
with decorations for Advent, in preparation for Christmas.

Near the end of the service, there was a time when the congregation all walked
up to the front to hang ornaments called "Chrismons" on a Christmas tree, while the congregation sang traditional Christmas hymns.

I happened to be sitting at the end of a pew, next to the center aisle in the middle of the Sanctuary.

As we sang the Christmas songs, people processed past me.

It was one of those moments where the loss of my mom really seemed to hit me again. 

I am not sure why, but when we sang "Silent Night", I thought to myself how my mom would not be hearing these songs this Christmas, and we would not be driving up to visit her.

Normally, I love to sing these songs, but the lump that welled up in my throat stopped me from singing.  

It was when I stopped singing, that the most amazing thing happened.  In my silence, I began to really hear the voices of all of those around me as they sang Silent Night.  And then, I could hear the voices changing continually, as different people processed past me.  

As I looked up at the people walking by, I saw so many dear friends who smiled at me and reached out a hand to me, or patted me on the shoulder.  Many of these precious saints had sent me a sympathy card in the mail.   Some of them even drove up for my mom's funeral (a three hour drive).   Some sent flowers.  And many others have just been a blessing in my life in other ways through the years.

There I sat, now not even wanting to sing any more.  I was so moved by what I was hearing and what I was experiencing. 

I realized again just what a blessing these friends are, and what a blessing my church has been to me.   I truly felt surrounded by love, and it was a wonderful feeling.

So, on this night I remained silent, as everyone around me sang Silent Night.
It was MY "silent night", and it turned out to be a "Holy night" for me.

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