We had our neighborhood Christmas party last weekend. We do a lot of things as a neighborhood, but there are two events every year, the Christmas party and the block party, where everyone in the neighborhood shows up and it’s so fun for one night to see everyone come together. We eat. We listen to musical performances. We watch the nativity acted out (we missed out this year because the person who typically does the nativity was sick!). We take a hay ride around the neighborhood.
One event we look forward to each year is the candle lighting ceremony that one of our neighbor leads. And once we’ve all participated in helping light our neighbor’s candle we sing silent night together. It’s beautiful and has such unifying effect on a group of people with such differing beliefs. It always makes me a little emotional watching the otherwise dark field fill with light and seeing so many faces behind the candles that I’ve grown to love so deeply. We are so grateful for our neighbors and we love this special night where we can celebrate together.
