Once the pandemic hit, the church building became an empty place. The walls that had always seen people, families, strangers and friends meet within had become a silent cold empty place. No chatter, no classes, no sermons from the pulpit. The doors were shut, the windows closed and the lights were off. No one quite knowing when it would be used to it’s fullest again.

To one family it became a beacon of light, a place of purpose, a place that gave them hope through a very lonely time.

They had 2 children, both needed exercise to help stay healthy, one had severe disabilities. Their small home wasn’t a place that they would find all that they needed. And so with permission they would use the building daily.

In gratitude for the use of such a place they would clean it, tidy, sort out the collected junk over the years and leave it in a better state than they found it. Preparing it for when it would be filled with people again when they would meet once more.

After 9 months of quiet, and no indication of when that would change, Christmas time was upon us. The mother would find herself sad as she walked through the building remembering Christmas celebrations of the past years, envisioning the children running the halls at the parties, the carols that were sung at the carol concert, and the scriptures read about the birth of Jesus during the nativity Sunday service each year, her very favourite time of year.

The sadness and feelings of missing people were new to her. Her mind had needed a rest that became a silver lining of a heartbreaking time for the world. Now, 9 months on, this silence was as loud as it could be. It felt like a hole that couldn’t be filled. It would be a silent building throughout a time she would sorely miss.

Boxing day 2020, and the family used the building to go and exercise for the day. Christmas had come and gone and it had been beautiful in so many ways. There was still an emptiness to the season for her. The building felt as empty as it possibly could.

Sat in the chapel watching the children interact with one another, she told her husband that she had really missed that no carols would be sung in there. It just felt wrong. It felt sad.

With that spoken, he picked up a hymn book and started singing the hymn ‘Silent Night’. All went quiet and the children settled to listen to their dad sing all three verses in his humble powerful worshipping tone. Tears filled her eyes. The spirit of Christmas had settled in the place that felt like it needed it the most. A place where His name is uttered all year round, but especially worshipped through the Christmas season.

Silent Night felt more profound than it ever had before to her.

In the quiet of a pandemic, the spirit of Christmas and love is within each of us.

A memory that she will treasure forever.

Thank you, Jonathan.

April xx