The best part of Christmas for me this year was attending the Midnight mass at Trinity Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara, California. My friend Andor invited me to attend the service with him. I was delighted to have someone to go to mass. This church practices what they preach as they volunteer at the Casa Esperanza on a weekly basis. Their pastor is the one of our Chaplains.
The choir was marvelous. The church was in all it's glory with all the Christmas decorations. When you looked at the altar, you were amazed at the beauty of the manger scene. Hundreds of candles flickering and glowing. Fragrance of incense from Bethlehem wafting in the air. However, the most meaningful part of the night was when the pastor gave the sermon.
The sermon was partly about the horror that took place in Newtown, Conneticutt. As he
reminded us of the unfortunate 26 souls that were gunned down in cold blood, the nation asked all the churches across the country to toll the bell chimes 26 times in honor of these dearly prematurely departed individuals. However, many of the churches decided to ring their bells 28 times. 28 is the total number of souls lost their lives that day. I wonder how many times I would toll the church bells? How many bells would you ring?
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