Try to go if you missed Friday night's service. You will be glad you did. It is a lovely service.
Get there at least one hour early or you will not get a seat.
For more information or to LiveStream the service and watch it from home, go HERE.
This will most likely be the last service I ever attend as I'm moving next summer. I will miss the service. I've attended every one of them since 2000. It makes it feel more like Christmas to hear the Christmas story and hear the carols sung by candlelight.
As I was watching and listening this night, I couldn't help but think of all the cadets I've seen pass through those chapel doors and stand on those risers and sing. The original cadets I saw that first night I ever attended are in their mid-30s now.
That first choir was very different from the one I saw this year. It was almost all male cadets. This year's choir has a good mix of both male and female cadets, as more women today choose to attend The Citadel Military College of South Carolina.
All The Citadel choirs have had much in common though. They are comprised of young people in their prime working towards their life's goals. Trying to better themselves. They're sitting on the brink of true adulthood. Just about to plunge into their lives full force.
Some will become military officers, teachers, engineers, business professionals, health professionals, scientists, fathers, mothers, and other productive citizens. Their lives will change exponentially after their graduations, but on this night each year, they are simply young singers raising their voices in celebration of the birth of a Jewish child who lay, wrapped in swaddling clothes, in a manger more than 2000 years ago. A child who came to give us hope. A child who came to save the world.
This service always makes me think of who among us may be remembered for generations. Who will remember me? What difference has my life made? Who celebrated my birth? Have I changed the world?
The answers are complicated, of course. I know I have changed the world of my sons, as I gave birth to them. I know I have changed the world of all those whose lives I have touched. I can only hope the change was for the better. I wonder...
I look around and see so very many friends beside and surrounding me. I see their faces and feel their joy in hearing the old songs, and it makes me believe we are all here for a reason. It is good to gather and be thankful and in wonder of the miracle of birth.
The 2016 Christmas Season has officially begun. I hope you find yourself surrounded by all the things that make you happy, and I hope each day you find a few minutes to truly be thankful for all the things you have in this life.
Love and joy come to you!!!
Merry Christmas Everyone!!
The following video is a LiveStream of Friday night's performance. Enjoy!
The cadet choir appears at about 53 minutes in the video below. If you have trouble entering full screen, please click YouTube on the bottom right of the video screen and try from there.
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