Joy to the world! The
Lord is come: let earth receive her king;
Let every heart
prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing.
(Hymn 100)
We celebrate the birth of Christ, God’s coming to live among
us, during the darkest time of the year in the northern hemisphere. Our often
glorious sunrises and sunsets this time of year, the stars on a cold, clear
night, and the Christmas lights shining through the darkness in the open
country all help us to understand John’s Gospel (John 1:5): “The light shines
in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
We Episcopalians celebrate Christmas for twelve days. With
“Joy to the world” in our hearts and minds, I invite you to join me in looking
each of these twelve days for instances of the joy that runs through all of
creation, especially through experiencing the beauty and wonder of God’s world.
Our Christmas Gospel from John (John 1:1-14) begins by articulating the connections among God’s creation of the world,
Christ, life, and light:
In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not
one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the
life was the light of all people.
The wonders of the world around us not only help us stay
connected to joy; they also remind us that God is God, the creator and
sustainer of all that is in the entire universe, and they help to strengthen our
connection to God.
Joy to the world! The
Savior reigns; let us our songs employ, while fields and floods, rocks, hills,
and plains, repeat the sounding joy.
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