The church was dark except for a battery-powered candle someone had accidentally  left on. It was Christmas Eve, a night when church congregants left their various entertainments and present-opening and buffet tables and came as one to celebrate the holy birth every year. But not this year. This one was online with more music, more varied backdrops, and the comfort of a laptop and a couch. And less, she thought. Less intensity, tenderness, and prayer.

It was nearing midnight when, on impulse, she’d driven the empty streets alone to the dark church for a service of one. Her footfalls resonated a barely audible sound on the carpeted aisle, and the air – the air had that familiar indefinable scent and sense that is part of churches everywhere who welcome Jesus. She often thought you could sense if the Holy Spirit was welcome in a church the minute you crossed the threshold.

Sitting at the piano, she allowed her fingers to play up and down the keyboard. Pretty notes evolved into a few hymns, then Christmas carols, and one last song. Silent Night. They had sung it together every year as candles held by hands young and old lit the room one by one. She missed it. She swallowed hard, and began to play in the darkness.

Wait. What was that? She stopped mid-song and listened hard. A slight sound. She frowned, then rose from the bench and squinted, peering down the darkened aisle. Footprints? Not possible. The sound was barely a whisper, but she could hear them! She closed her eyes and listened as they lined the sanctuary. Such a thing should bring fear, but all she felt was inexplicable warmth.

Opening her eyes, she heard her own intake of breath as bright starlight quietly began to flood through the church doors and windows, lighting the room more brightly than any candlelight service ever had. She shook her head in disbelief. And yet. And yet this was a night for faith. And miracles.

And she slowly settled onto the bench once again to play the carol as heaven’s stars and silent voices of congregants from years’ past joined together in a poignant Silent Night.

Images: pexels-nikko-tan-133699-1-scaled.jpg; pexels-bryan-geraldo-586415-scaled.jpg; pexels-ave-calvar-martinez-5109666-scaled.jpg; featured image: tim-umphreys-An_j14lRl5k-unsplash-1.jpg. Scripture: Job 38:7; Isaiah 9:6; Luke 2:1-20