To Everyone Who Works This Christmas: Thank you!
To everyone who works this Christmas:
THANK YOU.
It is Saturday December 23, 2023. Early
morning and I’m in my study with a coffee and advent/Christmas songs playing in
the background. I ponder.
To all the pastors serving and retired.
Thank you.
I fondly recall this time of year growing
up with the church being an integral and central part of my life.
I
always remember my mother having worked her last night shift before going back
a few days later. She got home on the morning of December 24 and didn’t sleep.
She got busy taking care of all the cooking for our family and friends coming
over for our traditional no meat Christmas Eve dinner. But in the background, she
was juggling all the smells of turkey, dressing, meatballs, gravy, vegetables, that
creamy mashed potato all waiting to make their appearance on Christmas Day. My
father would come home by four o clock (having set the table with all the fine
crystal and chinaware the night before). Guests would be there for five o
clock. Then it was off to Christmas Eve service. We all had our vocations. My
dad sang in the choir, my oldest brother was the organist, my middle brother
provided the chuckles, my mother tired as she was did not drift off during the
service and I served as acolyte. I am thankful to my pastor who made all the
final preparations and handled all the last-minute catastrophes (of which I now
realize always happen) without panic (of which I now realize always happen) and
making the service Christ centered with readings, hymns and sermon. After
service it was back home – sometimes we walked, and the cold quiet Christmas Eve
of a Winnipeg winter snapped us out weariness – where tea (sometimes with Rum)
and all my mothers weeks of baking came out! So many people involved to make
that night and day so special.
This weekend is busy for pastors and
the churches they serve or have served over the years.
I am thankful for wonderful colleagues
in our Edmonton circuit and beyond. Many I have been blessed by God to have
surround me.
I am thankful for my blood brother who
serves a congregation in Saskatoon whom I lean on regularly. My middle brother
still provides me with the chuckles I so need. My mother and father years ago
have been laid to rest. Souls around the throne of God. I tend to take a moment
during our Christmas Eve meal and quietly ponder the inheritance of a Christian
life they have given me. I look forward to the resurrection and the saints of
God being together. Thank you for this Christ child who has reconciled us to
you. What a gift.
So, I am thankful for all pastors
around the world. While many others get a break for a long weekend, they’re
hard at work.
Right now, they’re preparing for
Christmas Eve Candlelight services, Midnight Masses, and Christmas Day
celebrations.
While others wrap last-minute gifts,
travel to grandma’s house, and come to church for a much-needed reminder of the
reason for all this fuss, they’re hard at work making sure our church
experience is everything it should be.
It’s not that pastors are complaining.
This is a calling and a joy, of which we are thankful to be sheepdogs for. One
eye on the Shepherd, the other on the flock, doing the Shepherds bidding with
tail wagging!
Thank you to their wives, children, and
extended family whose Christmas celebrations and traditions see their husband
and father a little pre-occupied and focused somewhere else. Thank you for your
love and support as you faithfully manage things at home, and making the home
filled with love and joy when he gets home late on Christmas Eve. For giving
him that 15-minute nap Christmas day before supper (maybe you are thankful that
he’s keeping out of the kitchen!)
Thank you to my wife Jeanine. For
remembering so many of my own family traditions and keeping them alive while
working and preparing food, baking, decorating, and making a home filled with
warmth and love, truly a home.
But I wanted to acknowledge this
reality for one simple reason.
To say Thank You.
Thank you to ALL those who work so
others don’t have to.
Thank you to all the pastors, musicians
and staff who work extra hard to serve a bigger crowd than usual. And to those
who work just as hard for a smaller crowd than expected.
Thank you to the altar guilds who come
to church early to dress the altar, prepare the communion vessels, and know the
tricks of getting wax out of the carpet and every volunteer who prepares,
greets people, serves others, and cleans up when everyone else is gone.
Thank you to all the worship teams and
choir members who have been practicing for weeks, maybe months.
Thank you to the Sunday School teachers
who have been putting together Christmas concerts and goodie bags!
Thank you to the nursery volunteers who
may not even get to experience a Christmas service for themselves, so parents
can.
Beyond all the church workers are many
more we tend to overlook.
Thank you to all the hospital workers,
law enforcement, military, and firefighters who watch over us, because the
world’s problems don’t take a break for the holidays.
To all health care workers who make
home visits, or taking extra shifts in care homes so the elderly are remembered
and given extra love and care.
To the young students who must take shifts
to earn a little more for school, car repairs and serve in restaurants, or convenience
stores getting people to their destinations with a smile.
To all travel workers who get us to our
destinations safely and our luggage to where it needs to go.
Thank you to everyone who’s cooking,
baking, and otherwise preparing their homes for everyone else to enjoy.
Thank you to all the plumbers,
electricians, and other service personnel who will work overtime this weekend,
responding to last-minute emergencies so others can have their pipes unclogged,
heaters repaired, and electricity restored so celebrations can continue.
To all of you and so many others that I
failed to mention. If you’re working on Christmas so others can celebrate,
relax, and remember, we thank you.
When you get through the days ahead and
after all the busyness is over, please take some time to slow down.
Pastors, don’t spend so much time and
energy proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the Saviour who brings the Peace of God
to all that you forget to relax, enjoy, and celebrate God’s gifts in your own
life.
Cooks, hosts, health care workers,
service personnel, and emergency workers; when the rush has passed, take a
well-deserved rest. Kick back and enjoy some down-time with friends and family.
Pause to reflect on your faith. Renew your soul and spirit. Rejoice in your
vocations.
Even if others forget to say thank you, please note that I wrote this letter and
note and someone forwarded it to you because we are grateful for all you do.
You took one of the best days of the
year and made it even better.
Thank you.
Now go take a nap. You’ve earned it.
God bless you in the vocations He has
gifted you with.
PAX
Reverend Jan Pastucha
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