It’s Christmas day, and most of the campus is deserted. Even the Red House is emptier, with some gone to Paris and others returned to their homes for the holidays. For the few of us that remained, we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve international feast last night. We shared dishes from Germany, Japan, Brazil and the US and sang Christmas songs in English, German and Japanese.
After dinner, I went to midnight service with one of my Swedish friends. Although the service was in Aramaic and Swedish I was able to follow along surprisingly well. And I was grateful to be able to participate in service to celebrate the reason for the season, God’s unending love for us.
Shortly before the holidays began, a few of us stayed up into the wee hours to watch the Geminids meteor shower. We braved the cold and the darkness, and headed out into the nature park behind campus to gaze at the heavens. We weren’t disappointed, and saw quite a few “shooting stars”. When our feet started to freeze (at about the 1 hour mark), we headed back to the house for some hot chocolate and finally, bed.
It’s been a great Christmas, even far from home, spent with great people. My Christmas wish for all is that the joy and peace of this time of year would remain with us as the old year ends and a new one begins. Merry Christmas everyone!