The third theme of Advent is joy. In my mind, the two famous half-hour Christmas shows Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas are a diptych. Christmas specials are now ubiquitous, but these two shows are especially interesting because they both effectively answer the question: “What is the real meaning of Christmas?” The real meaning of Christmas is to find joy in the right things – the song of the angels in the heavens, and the song of humankind in response on the earth. I can imagine the joy of the shepherds on finding the babe and realising the import of what they had seen and heard and experienced. May each of us have a similar experience during this coming Christmas season and always. World without end.
God of Peace and Joy: Please help us through these days of rush and busyness to remember that Christmas is about joy. May everyone we meet be a source of joy to us and may we reflect heaven’s own joy everywhere we go. Heart to heart and hand in hand. So be it.
