Blue Christmas Service

A Personal Note about the Blue Christmas Service

Each of my parents died in late autumn. My Dad departed this life at the end of October after a 14-month battle with cancer. My mother cooked Thanksgiving dinner for the family many years later, then dropped dead of a heart attack. Christmas each of those years was very difficult for my family, with all of us feeling a great sense of loss, somehow out of step with the “normal” holiday festivities. In a season that focuses on the blessing of a birth, we were experiencing the pain of a death.

Attending a Christmas Eve candlelight service was a family tradition. How I wish we could have gone to a service that recognized that not everyone was feeling the JOY of the season, a service that made room for our tears and heartbreak. 

Death of a loved one is not the only loss that interferes with a celebratory anticipation of Christmas. Perhaps you have been diagnosed with a disease and know (or fear) that this may be your last Christmas. Maybe you have lost a job, are going through a divorce, are far away from your children, parents or spouse or are dealing with another loss or situation that makes you feel alone and challenges your ability to ‘celebrate’ the season.

The Salt Lake Center for Spiritual Living, in service to the greater Salt Lake community is again offering a special Christmas service for all those who are suffering loss. We invite you to gather with us and others who are hurting, in a place where we can hear the familiar Christmas story, sing some of the familiar songs with no expectation that we have to be happy in the process. Tears are welcome but not required.  

We will explore that first Christmas many years ago, recognizing that it was a time of difficulty for the main characters of the story and that in the midst of their darkness, Light appeared. We will light our own candles, symbols of our hope and affirmation that things will not always be as hard as they are right now.  

We are grateful to those who have helped us make this service possible. 

Thank you to Serenity Funeral Home https://www.serenityfhs.com/ for their understanding of the need for this service and for their financial support, to Ruby Snap https://rubysnap.com/ for sharing their delicious cookies with us, to Ric and Chamaigne Sharette for sharing their beautiful music, to Raj, our sound guru for his audio-visual tech support & to our Prayer Practitioners for providing in person care for those who need a loving heart or listening ear following the service. 

May this service provide you with some measure of comfort or at least the assurance that others want to support you in your grief and that you do not have to do this alone.

Rev. Linda Brewer