Of goats and God

Our Christmas Service at Cana Community Church is at a barn. I love saying that. It's true, we do meet at a barn. A real barn. There are rabbits and guinea pigs in the same room with us and goats and chickens just around the corner. We meet at the Heifer Project here in Rutland. We started meeting there because the college that we used to meet at was closed for the holidays... we couldn't meet anywhere else, so off we go, out to the barn. Sound familiar?

Christmas service appeals to me on so many levels. I am really not a city person at heart. I deal well with meeting every Sunday in Worcester... but I much rather being around here in the woods. Heifer is nothing if not in the woods.

Christ came to earth and was born in a stable... and we have made palaces... truly... palaces to try to meet with Him again. I love good architecture, don't get me wrong. Those buildings were made to inspire and awe us and I am one of those that are truly affected by their beauty. Get me in front of a stained glass rose window and I will stare for hours. I just think that while beauty is wonderful, God is something more wonderful if we allow Him to be humble and low... as He wanted to be. Christmas in a barn is good.

The Heifer Project is a National, Non-Profit organization created to sustainably feed impoverished people and nations. It isn't just a barn, it is a barn with a mission and that mission is, in my mind, perfectly aligned with what the true mission of the church should be.

We sing Christmas Carols and read passages from personal accounts and from the Bible. We have communion in the cold with the barn animals around us. I love it when things fall into place... when everything aligns, and I love Christmas Services at my church.

btw... if any of you reading feel so obliged, Heifer takes donations... you can donate animals to families in other countries... they make it pretty easy. Just click here and be taken to their donation page.