Date: December 17, 2024
I have spent much of the last twenty-four hours signing Christmas cards. Each one is a special moment. I pause, think of the person’s connection to the Seminary, and then seek to write a suitable note. As I worked through the cards this year, I found myself aware that for more people than normal this will be a difficult Christmas. There were plenty of people who had loved ones die during the year. Everyone feels the absence of a loved one acutely at the holidays. For those people, my note promised my prayers.
It is important for us to all to remember that the holidays are joyful for many (hopefully most). But for some, the holidays are brutal and hard. It will be a “blue Christmas without you”. So, many of our memories of those close to us are wrapped up in the holidays. The holiday absence is a cruel reminder of the loss.
Do pause today and pray for those who will find the holidays difficult.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and the President of The General Theological Seminary