Advent By Candlelight

 by Eveliina Wasmund

Christmas is known to be the most elaborately and extensively celebrated holiday, and is fittingly the most eagerly anticipated of them all. The beautiful decorations, the delicious treats, the meticulously chosen gifts, the gatherings of family and friends, the cheering cards, the programs and the parties are all great pleasures, but each listed item requires planning, work, money, and time. They call the massive accumulation of to-do lists minus money and time, “stress”.  Behind all of the glitter and lights, the one real reason for celebration in this sin-smitten world is often lost, hardly giving any relief to the stress situation, not to mention the sin situation. To bring the Christ child back as the focal point of the Christmas season Cross of Life has an annual event called Advent by Candlelight.

As Christmas approaches, the women of Cross of Life gather together for a peaceful evening to anticipate and celebrate the birth of their Saviour over dessert and candlelight. Tables are set up with lovely decorations and candles, each unique and special, a creative endeavor of that table’s hostess. This year, Advent by Candlelight was held in the Lisgar School’s atrium, which had been dazzlingly arrayed with Christmas lights and candles of such astounding quanity that at least someone must have put the fire department on speed dial. After the ladies arrived, browsed the tables, and mingled, each one found her name card at her place. Dessert and coffee was enjoyed, and an inspirational, beautiful program of readings and songs filled the rest of the evening. A large nativity scene was set up on a stage as a visual reminder of the most precious gift mankind has ever received. The evening ended with a candlelit singing of Silent Night.

This year’s theme was Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace. It sounds kind of standard, but it wasn’t. Sometimes your beloved relatives can’t make it after all. Sometimes you are just too busy to help out that guy stranded in a snow bank. Sometimes the Christmas cookies you spent hours baking while imagining the delight of your loved ones are deemed “grossly inedible”. Sometimes you can’t afford to buy a tree. Sometimes you can hardly hear yourself think over the arguing voices that include your own. Can you still have hope, love, joy, and peace when everything goes wrong? You may not necessarily have the surface kind, but you can certainly hope in Jesus Christ as the Saviour from sin, be surrounded and overwhelmed with His love, rejoice in what He’s done for His beloved children, and have true peace, peace between God and man.