by Ed Ostrom

Created on: December 23, 2009   Last Updated: December 24, 2009

The silvery sparkling lights streaming from a multitude of Christmas trees and outdoor Seasonable displays has always been attractive t me. Whether it is strolling down the well decked out Candy Cane Lane in Beautiful Saskatoon or strolling the River Bank and Harrison Park in Owen Sound‘s Festival of Lights  my heart and total being are always  attracted to  the Lights.

My most meaningful encounter with the sparking Christmas Lights happened on Christmas Eve 2000 in Nelson BC... I had the privilege of being the Pastor of a small congregation in the Queen city of the Kootenays. In the summer of 2000 we had sold our century old church building.  After the sale of our building we met in a school gymnasium on Sunday Mornings for worship. For many years my congregation had held an annual Christmas Eve Candle Service. In 2000 we found out we were not permitted to light candles in the school. It was starting to appear that we would not be able to hold our traditional Candle Light Service. It seemed that due to circumstances beyond our control, fifty years of tradition would have to be laid aside. But it is in such circumstances that “necessity becomes the mother of invention”. My 17 year old daughter took the “bull by the horns and intervened to save our traditional Christmas Eve Candle Light Service. She thought we should hold the Service at our house. With that in mind we decided to move part of the service outside. My daughter made a set of nativity figures out of coroplast .She strung strings of outdoor lights on a huge spruce tree that dominated   our back yard.          She also strung a string of lights behind the nativity scene on some high bushes growing on the hillside.

When Christmas Eve came it was a cold, clear night. Newly fallen snow crunched beneath the feet of those who walked on it. The cold air brought out rosy cheeks on those who ventured out into it. The sky was filled up with a brilliant yellow moon. A myriad of stars danced in the cloud less sky. As we stood outside singing Carols we suddenly noticed     the bright light of the moon cascading over the nativity scene set up in our back yard. Before it shone on the manager scene its light crossed over an old pole that was at one time a pole holding an old clothesline. The line and pulleys had long since been removed. But the pole with a cross section on top of it was left standing in the rock garden. As we looked on the manager scene the moon light cast a shadow of a cross over the manager.       There in the sparkling light of that cold Christmas Eve we plainly saw that Bethlehem’s child born in that manger that first Christmas Night was marked by the sign of the cross. This child was born to die. He came into this world to die   That Christmas Eve that was again plainly shown to us as the sign of the cross was silhouetted over the manager. There that Christmas Eve the true meaning of Christmas was shown to us in the sparking lights of Christmas. A great sense of worship gripped our hearts and truly we experienced the joy of worship. The very presence of the Lord was there.   The manger was covered by the sign of the cross.  

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