OpenSpirit Longest Night: Monday, December 21, 2009; 7:00 PM
Come, mark the Solstice with OpenSpirit! The weekend’s snowfall announces the arrival of the season of winter, but the Longest Night, the Solstice, heralds the sure return of the light! We gather on a different night (time enough to shovel out!) and in a different place this week, but the same Spirit will be with us. Monday evening, at Edwards Church in Framingham; directions below. 
The sounds and sights of the Christmas season stir a wide range of emotions. There are joyous memories and painful ones. There are moments of connection and times of loneliness. There is hope for the future and grief at lost opportunities. Too often, in this season, we do not pause to acknowledge the complicated mix of emotions we experience in this season.
On Monday night, December 21, we will honor this complicated mix of emotions with a Longest Night Service. On the longest night of the year, we acknowledge the spiritual and emotional “nights” in our lives, and we also lift up the promise that new light is coming. The service will include lighting of candles of remembrance and hope, poetry, silence, story, and saxophone and piano music.
Our service will be held at 7 p.m. at Edwards Church, in the Edwards Hall building. Directions to Edwards Church can be found below. Turn right at the first parking lot; Edwards Hall is a long, low building by the lot. There is plenty of parking!
From the Mass Pike and Route 30:
Take the Mass Pike to Exit 13 (Route 30).
Take Route 30 West through four signals.
Turn right onto Route 126 North, Concord St., towards Saxonville.
Follow Route 126 North for about 2 miles.
When 126 abruptly turns right at School Street, continue straight, staying on Concord St.
Go by the mill and through the light. Concord St. becomes Elm St.
At Stapleton Elementary School, turn right just after the school parking lot onto Maplewood St.
Turn left onto Edwards St. You will see the sanctuary and education building ahead. Park to the right.
From Route 9:
From Route 9 in Framingham, watch for signs for Route 126 North.
Take 126 North (Concord Street), going away from downtown Framingham, towards Saxonville.
Follow Route 126 North for about 2 miles.
When 126 abruptly turns right at School Street, continue straight, staying on Concord St.
Go by the mill and through the light. Concord St. becomes Elm St.
At Stapleton Elementary School, turn right just after the school parking lot onto Maplewood St.
Turn left onto Edwards St. You will see the sanctuary and education building ahead. Park to the right.
From Route 20:
From Route 20 in Sudbury, turn south at Landham Rd. (a left turn going west or a right turn going east).
Follow Landham Rd, into Framingham, where it becomes Elm St.
You will cross the aqueduct and pass Cameron Middle School on the left.
Shortly after, on the left, look for Maplewood St which is just before Stapleton Elementary School’s parking lot. Turn left onto Maplewood St.
Turn left onto Edwards St. You will see the sanctuary and education building ahead. Park to the right.
Longing calls us as the theme for our evening gatherings during the coming four Sundays of Advent. It is the deep wellspring of creativity, and yet remains an all too neglected impulse in the busy weeks that precede Christmas.
During the coming four weeks of Advent, our OpenSpirit gatherings will explore the depth and shape of longing, and how desire draws us ever more profoundly into the mystery of life.