The image above is from a memorial service Peter Majendie constructed following the Christchurch earthquake of 2011 – heart rending and effective. If you have a small group of participants you might like to suggest each person grabs one of the empty chairs and sits it next to them at one point in the service. Creating a prayer station composed only of empty chairs or having empty chairs at the front of the sanctuary are both simple but powerful worship tools. Christmas 2020 – Feeling Blue The Empty ChairĪn empty chair is a powerful symbol of loss and can really facilitate our grieving. One post I do want to highlight from the past however is Katie Kennington Steer’s beautiful poem/post as part of her personal grieving as well as her post for Blue. Some are creative ideas for activities that facilitate grieving. Godspace writers have posted several times in the past about this but thought that this year I would combine some of the resources into a single post so that those of you who are planning services or your own personal ritual can easily access them. People who are not having a very merry Christmas and friends who support them are invited to come and sit with one another in a liturgy that speaks of the love of God for the grieving. To fill this gap churches offer a Blue Christmas service, a Service of Solace or Longest Night. Many churches recognize that Festivals of Carols, celebrations of Christmas, and children’s pageants do not meet everyone’s needs. So why do we try to cover our pain and grief with Yuletide cheer? In 2023, we are certainly experiencing situations and difficulties like never before. The tragic plight of almost 90 million displaced people around the world, war in Ukraine and many other places, fears about climate change and its potentially devastating impact on our planet, and our own personal tragedies of lost loved ones, friends or relatives with terminal illnesses, and other losses mean that our hearts are grieving. The fires in California that have killed so many and left many more homeless. There is much on all our minds as we prepare for Christmas this year that is not pleasant.
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