Blue Christmas services will be held next week at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in downtown Honolulu and at Windward United Church of Christ in Kailua.
St. Andrew’s “Blue Christmas: A Service of Reflection for the Longest Night” event is set for 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Episcopal cathedral, 229 Queen Emma Square.
Held on the winter solstice — the longest night of the year — the service “recognizes that there is darkness in all our lives, that not everyone is merry at Christmastime,” according to organizers. Through music, silent meditation, Scripture and prayer, “we reach out to acknowledge sadness with comfort and quiet remembrance, to reflect on the losses we have experienced and to remember together, whatever our spiritual path, the real reason for the season — that we are not alone, and that light will come again.”
Windward United Church of Christ’s service is slated for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the church, 38 Kaneohe Bay Drive.
The Rev. Jayne Ryan Kuroiwa, pastor at Windward UCC, said in a release, “Life’s difficulties like grief, financial distress, loneliness and trauma don’t follow a calendar, and for some people the over-the-top merriment of the season is simply too hard to take.”
The church aims to offer a “calming and reflective service focused on the lighting of four pillar candles to remember those we have lost, to release the pain of the past, to honor ourselves as survivors, and to keep hope alive.” Participants will have the opportunity to light a votive candle from one of the pillar candles. There will also be poetry, Scripture readings, soothing Christmas music, live jazz and meditative prayer.
Kuroiwa said Blue Christmas originated in the hospice community more than 20 years ago as a means for people to sustain hope and remember loved ones who had died. Email windwarducc@hawaii.rr.com or call 254-3802 for information. For more information about the event at St. Andrew’s, call 524-2822, ext. 217.
