Music played, children and adults sang Christmas songs as people lined the streets to watch us travelling through a neighborhood in La Mesa in a surrey with the fringe on top, decorated in holiday fashion and drawn by two beautiful graceful Belgium draft horses. While singing with the music and looking at all the beautiful decorations, everyone waved wishing all of the neighbors a “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy Hanukkah.”
Music played, children and adults sang Christmas songs as people lined the streets to watch us travelling through a neighborhood in La Mesa in a surrey with the fringe on top, decorated in holiday fashion and drawn by two beautiful graceful Belgium draft horses. While singing with the music and looking at all the beautiful decorations, everyone waved wishing all of the neighbors a “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy Hanukkah.”
Though a chilly night, this quaint little neighborhood in the hills of La Mesa created the perfect atmosphere for a wonderful holiday ride. The clippity-clop of the large gentle giants, (belonging to Linda Hayes from the Hazy Meadow Ranch & Carriage Company in Lakeside) was a welcomed sound and added to the atmosphere. It was a wonderful evening and I was happy to be part of a long tradition.
Since the mid 80s, as best as the women in the church could remember, the United Church of Christ La Mesa has greeted its neighbors every year with holiday cheer. And this church is truly a neighborhood sanctuary. It is nestled in the midst of this community, and is as quaint and lovely as the neighborhood.
I received a warm welcome from the congregation that was heart-warming to meet each one of them. Church member Mary Domb Mikkelson made me feel at home from the moment I walked in the door, introducing me to everyone there and continued to do so as they came in the door.
Women in the kitchen were busy making homemade chili, hotdogs, hot chocolate and apple cider. Children and adults, made reindeer and mistletoe ornaments, Santa Claus door hangers and a Christmas photo frames in the fellowship hall. Many came just to sit and socialize.
Mikkelson said she fell in love with the church from the very beginning and has worshipped and fellowshipped there for eight years. In September, the church gained a new friend with Pastor Kaji Dousa. She said in such a short time, Kaji, (what she prefers to be called) is a family member in the church, loved and couldn’t be happier with their new pastor. And the children flocked around her continually.
Dousa said she came from New York and was thrilled about the hayride through the neighborhood. She said it is not something seen in New York, and a fitting tradition for this church she said she has grown quickly to love and admire.
We had a lovely conversation and I was pleased she took time to ask me if I had found a church family, offering me a home there anytime. She said one of the things she loved about the church was that its growth comes from the people living around it and that even those that do not attend, consider the church part of the community.
And I can easily see why. People lined the streets waiting for the horse drawn carriage to come by their house. The entire neighborhood was in festive spirit with almost all the homes were decorated for the holidays and the friends on the street were as warm and welcoming as the congregation I met in the church. If I were looking for a church to call home, this is the type of church I would be looking for.
Everyone I met on Sunday evening are the kind of people that I like to surround myself with. They are full of good will and intentions and they embodied the spirit of the holidays through their warmth and wishes. It was impossible for me not to get into the spirit of the hayride as I sang along, waved and wished all neighbors a very happy holiday, no matter how they choose to celebrate it. And the church members that rode along with me did the same. Religion was not the message of the evening, it was good will and loving thy neighbor as thyself.
