Today, Christians around the world light the Advent Candle of Joy. This a spiritual gift we need to consider with lightheartedness – along with great seriousness.
Years ago, our family had come together for a family gathering of my wife’s family that included aunts and uncles and cousins – dear people, many of whom I had never met. We were meeting in a family home large enough to accommodate that number of people. Metal chairs and tables borrowed from their church were set up in every conceivable place. All three of our children were small as were all three of Beth’s sister’s children. People and food were everywhere.
What I remember most was the chaos – and I felt my children were creating most of it. There was a lot of confusion anyway, with limited space and too many people; but all the excitement revved my kids up so that it seemed every time my wife or I turned around something was spilling, the dog was being abused, food was being thrown or a diaper had come loose. The kids were overly tired and excruciatingly excited; they needed naps (so did I) but there was no space and too much noise – like I said, chaos.
A few weeks later, around Christmas time, we got a sweet Christmas card from Auntie, one of the matriarchs in Beth’s family. She was kind and affirming as always, but what she said about our being with her in Kansas at that chaotic family reunion struck me: “What a joy it was to be with you and your lovely family.”
Was she joking? My first thought was: “Auntie needs to get out more.”
But then it struck me: part of experiencing the joy of God is noticing the small miracles and the hidden blessings of everyday life. For Auntie, she was calmly aware. Gracefully accepting of children’s excess energy, she gladly embraced the presence of family, kept in perspective the cramped nature of the surroundings, and felt within and among the chaos the brush of angel’s wings and the presence of God. She experienced joy because she could put aside all the other distractions and treasure the positive moments as beauty, truth – and sacredness. She was aware. Such is the essence of Joy.
For the next few days, we shall explore this vital Christian quality, and this essential component of the Christmas season: awareness for the reality of Joy.[1]
PRAYER FOR THE WEEK:
Let us be open to joy this week, O God. Calm us in our actions and reactions; renew our spirits; invigorate our hope. Give us laughter that is easy, contagious and filled with a spirit of Christmas in the truest sense. Let us be joyful then, not in superficiality or silliness, but with solid, realistic, and glad understandings of the world and those in it – and what your being part of our lives means to us all. Amen.
SCRIPTURE FOR THE DAY:
Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say: rejoice!
Philippians 4:4
[1] The more somber, reflective color of purple for the other three candles in the Advent Wreath usually gives way to a lighter shade, this less regal and more exuberant color of pink. Apparently in the background of this was the earlier tradition of popes handing a pink rose to someone in the crowd of church at St. Peter’s in Rome. The color and the memory evolved into Protestant circles adapting and modifying the tradition.
