Have you ever realized how much easier it is to rejoice when you are noticing the positives in life, like loving acts, smiles, beauty, simple kindness?
Today, I light the Advent Candle of Love and the AdventWord for today is Rejoice. I knew Love was the theme for this week, so I had been pondering it. Thanks to Ann Weems’ poem about Joseph, my mind went to those ordinary acts of love that I see all around. People are making sacrifices, mostly unnoticed, right before our very eyes.
With tears in my eyes over what I beheld: a mother inviting a young man into her home for Christmas, knowing this young man killed her son; a grandmother sharing how much the love of others meant to her because she was able to get a brand new toy for Christmas from Toys for Tots when she was a child; an older man who daily feeds an elderly man to whom he is not related; not to mention the sacrifices made by relatives for one another.
With these thoughts of love in my head, I could not help but rejoice. It is in this spirit that I invite you to share in Communion.
AND SHE PONDERED: Encountering God in Everyday Life 