By Linda Anderson-Little

Give thanks to God, who has enabled you

to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

(Colossians 1:12)

I was in Salzburg, Austria on Christmas Eve in 1981 when I experienced the most unexpected and breathtaking embrace of light.

It would have been my sophomore year of college, but I took that year off because my parents moved to Brussels, Belgium, for my dad’s work the year before. It seemed foolish not to take advantage of this golden opportunity to live in Europe, save money babysitting for American families abraod, and travel as much as I could.

My younger sister still lived at home and attended an international high school. My two older sibling were flown from the States to Brussels at Christmas-time to join the family for the holiday season. With all of us together, my parents planned a two-week holiday trip through Europe - the only one my older brother and sister would take while they lived there - so we could all experience some of this travel and fun together. Our trip started in Germany, put us in Austria for Christmas, and Paris on New Year’s Eve (Bonne annee!).

When we arrived in Salzburg, we had fun finding the home of the original Von Trapp family, touring a castle, visiting the cathedral, eating in a cave-like grotto, and shipping - always shopping with Mom! We stayed in a small family-run hotel which my dad much preferred; ever the extrovert, he wanted to chat up the locals, learn about the area, and hear their stories.

On Christmas Eve, our hosts served us a lovely dinner - I can still hear my dad laughing at the faces my sister and I made when our fish arrived with heads still attached an eyeball staring up at us. But it was delicious!

Our hosts then instructed us on how to walk to the local church, letting us know it was the congregation where the real Von Trapp family were members and used to sing - how exciting!

Service was at 11 p.m. so it would conclude at midnight, Christmas Day.

We trudged through the snow in the dark and my excitement turned to trepidation as we had to journey through a grim cemetery. I wondered if we were going the right way. We eventually found the church on the far edge of the cemetery. It was nearly full, with people all wearing dark coats and hats, but we did find a pew that would hold all six of us. Even without our brightly colored ski jackets and moon boots (it was the early 1980s after all) we stuck out like a sore thumb. My dad is 6’5” with my brother not far behind; we three girls are also very tall. Good thing we were all an average weight, or it would have looked like the invasion of the Teletubbies. None of us understood German, but it felt magical to worship on Christmas Eve and hear the familiar tunes we knew everyone would be signing back home.

When the service was over, we had to make our trek back through the cemetery to our hotel. We found our way out of the church and around the back, turning to talk up the grassy hill where the headstones began. AS we came over the hill looking for the path, a glowing light shimmered ahead. We took a few more steps to discover that the entire cemetery was bathed in candlelight. A solitary candle sat on every single grave. The combined light created a golden orb that rose from the ground like a halo, enfolding us as we walked. Swaddled in light, I could still see each individual flame on every grave in the cemetery. The glowing of the many did not diminish the shine of the one; the one contributed to the greater light yet was still a unique flame.

The headstones that marked the lives of these many saints guided us on our journey to worship and their light led us home. May this always be true of those who have gone before us as we “give thanks to God, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light” (Colossians 1:12)

The Reverend Linda Anderson-Little was ordained as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of American in 1989. She has served congregations in Detroit, Kansas City, and St. Louis. In March 2018, she became the pastor at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Richardson, Texas. This reflection was originally published in House of Light, a book in the Retreat House House of series. You can purchase a copy here.