Merry Christmas! I hope you are having a blessed Christmas Eve. I just got back a little while ago from the 10:30pm Mass at Our Lady Of Lourdes, the Catholic church across the street from me. Lourdes was my Mom's church. I used to take her over there in the afternoons when I was living in her apartment. We would just sit in the empty chapel for twenty minutes or so. She also went to Mass every day for a while, and I spent a lot of time there, too, after Mom passed away. I am not officially Catholic, but I feel close to that parish and I always go to their Midnight Mass on December 24th. The service was beautiful and I always get goosebumps and on the verge of tears (in a good way) because I can feel both the Power Of Christ and Mom with me also (and Dad, too, even though he was not religious), and I can feel the presence of other loved ones as well. Though this presence is with me on a daily basis, I am especially transformed at the Christmas Eve services.
Earlier in the evening, at 6:30, I sang with the choir at my own church, the United Methodist Church of Reseda. I am not officially a member of Reseda Methodist, either, but as you know I've been in the choir for a little over four years and this was my fifth Christmas service with them. I became associated with the church and the choir because of Pearl, as you also know, and I love singing with those guys. I especially enjoy singing during the Holiday Season, and Christmas Eve is my favorite service of all, because of all the carols. We get to sing more on this night than during any other service of the year, and tonight went very well. I sang my lungs out and got even more goosebumps during the finale of "Silent Night". We had a good turnout in the congregation and there were a lot of folks at Lourdes, too, later in the evening.
I didn't go on a hike today, but I did manage to get in a couple of meditative CSUN walks. It is so nice to have an empty campus during the Winter Break, not to mention the substantial reduction in traffic when 40,000 students clear out of town for a few weeks.
I did not watch a movie tonight because of the dual church services, but I have been watching and listening to the Bach "Mass In B Minor" just prior to writing this blog. Even though it is not designated as a Christmas piece, I came to associate the Mass In B Minor with the Holiday because it turns out that the first section Bach wrote, called "Sanctus", was written specifically to be performed on Christmas Day 1724. The entire 100+ minute piece came together later, but it began as a short vocal work for Christmas. Listened to in full, it is not only one of the greatest choral works ever written, but one of the most profound pieces in the history of music, I think. Only Bach could've come up with it, of course.
Well, that's all for tonight. I wish you a very Merry Christmas and I also remind you to keep an eye up in the sky tonight, because..........well, you know. Santa Claus is coming to town.
You can also use the NORAD tracker at www.noradsanta.org
But don't wait too long, and don't forget to put out the milk and cookies. Watch your chimney, too.
See you in the morning under the Christmas Tree (and maybe under the mistletoe if I am lucky).
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment