Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth. The thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. These lyrics from my favorite Christmas hymn, O Holy Night, feel especially poignant this year. The world feels so full of sin and so, so weary. Shootings, wildfires, hurricanes, and earthquakes have delivered devastation to a countless number of communities and families this year. I’ll admit, there are days when it feels like a dream I cannot wake up from—so real and yet so [...]

Come back in time with me. Hear Burl Ives singing, “He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.” I was probably five years old when I first heard this song. I was in a department store, Christmas shopping with my mother. The words struck home because I really wanted Santa to bring me an electric train for Christmas—a Lionel train with a switchbox to make the train go forward and backward and “smoke tablets.” You dropped those white aspirin-like tablets in [...]

My name is Henry Quillin. I am 14 years old, and I was lucky enough to be a part of delivering poinsettias to our Friends at Home members last year with Student Ministries. We delivered to the folks living in long-term care facilities. Since some of the senior members of St. Luke’s are unable to come to the Sunday services, my group and I drove to where our Friends at Home lived and gave them beautiful poinsettias so that they would know that they are loved by St. Luke’s. Though it is such a simple act of kindness, [...]