BLUE Christmas? Surely Christmas is red
and green! Blue Christmas services were
developed in the Northern Hemisphere by
many churches for those feeling pain or
grief, for those with no heart to celebrate,
and they are held on the longest, darkest
nights of the year: December 21-23.
In our dazzlingly bright days and late
sunsets, Blue Christmas services are held
to recognise that not everyone is full of
joy. Not everyone feels ready for the ‘merry
Christmas’ greetings heard everywhere.
Many carry grief and pain, and find the
ever-present carols, rush and excitement
difficult to share. ‘Feeling blue’, they are not
ready for Christmas.
This year many more people are
experiencing grief and pain: they have not
been able to share in celebrating the lives of
dear ones, including loved family members
and friends. Separation from family, being
alone, losing work or money, feeling lonely,
despairing about the future – all have taken
a toll.
The Blue Christmas service recognises
pain and loss. It acknowledges that the
story of the first Christmas is not really a
happy one: a birth of a Child to parents
far from home, poor, in emergency
accommodation, and soon becoming
refugees in Egypt.
Blue Christmas offers a safe space for
quiet contemplation, for admitting that we
are not ‘OK’, that we are sad, discouraged,
perhaps even angry – or just a little blue…
Come to share with others with similar
feelings, to find comfort, to find hope.
You are very welcome to join the
Shepparton Uniting Church Christmas
services.
