Decorations
During the lighting of the Advent Candle Sunday, Carol and Nina read words that stuck with me. Here’s what they read.
Reader One: We want everything to look nice: the decorations of the season, our homes with their lights and tinsel, wreaths and ribbons. We want to lighten the darkness around us, bring beauty to the ugliness that wears us down. We decorate, because it is tradition. Because it lifts our hearts. Because it makes us feel like children again. We deck our halls because company is coming.
Reader Two: The prophet Isaiah smiled when he said, “God will give a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.” No matter how far we feel from the spirit of the season, God promises to decorate us with love and with joy.
Reader One: We light these candles as a sign of our joy in the beautiful things of this season – not just the things that glitter and flash, but the deeper things, the beauty of the heart and the soul, the beauty of love shared in service and hospitality. We light this candle of joy because company is coming.
There is so much in these words that touched me, but what I want us to focus on is this: “No matter how far we feel from the spirit of the season, God promises to decorate us with love and with joy.” Our faith and love for Jesus Christ allow us to be God’s Christmas tree. We have the most amazing decorations of love and joy. As we focus on the birth of Christ and go through this holiday season with a grateful heart, we can look like the big tree in Times Square. But if we forget the reason for the season, we will look and feel like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree.
Let Him decorate us with love and joy. Shine bright! For company (Jesus) is coming!
Merry Christmas!