My brother recently posted this photo of us with our Advent wreath. His caption, “My love of these Advent days was formed at our kitchen table with nightly devotions, as well as a regular fight about who would light or blow out the candles.” While we might have bickered about the blowing out of the candle, the feeling I had when I saw the photo was just joy. While life was simpler in those early days, the blessing of this time together was evident.
The candle in the third week of Advent represents joy. All candles in an Advent wreath are now blue to represent our hope-filled faith. The blue also depicts the color before the sun rises at dawn.
Joy can be found in the days before Christmas with the lights, decorations, homemade goodies, and preparations for giving. But it can also be elusive as we rush through our busy lives or face frustrations due to life circumstances. The woman at the Wendy’s drive-through lamented to me that it was going to be a long night because their truck had not come with supplies. She had already been yelled at because they were out of ketchup packets to go with the chicken nuggets. How could it be that ketchup packets were the thief of a person’s joy?
My heart sank for both people. No one should be yelled at for not having ketchup and how hard is the person’s life that felt they needed to shout over ketchup? Was it a parent who was stressed after a long day, no time to make dinner, and their child only eats chicken nuggets with ketchup? Someone whose life was full of sadness or disappointment, and this was the last straw?
In a recent Welcome Table devotion, Kendall Grubb talks about experiencing joy as one of the most fragile emotions. When we know the fullness of joy, we are also opening ourselves to experience sadness, frustration, and loss. Life is a balance of emotions.
How comforting to know that God sent Jesus to experience the fullness of humankind which encompasses the entirety of emotions. When we are willing to open our lives and hearts to live freely among God’s people in this Advent season and beyond, there will be sorrow but there will also be great joy.
I left the drive-through laughing with the Wendy’s worker and we both agreed to pray for each other. You could tell she already had the joy of Jesus back in her heart. My added prayers now and past this week in Advent are that those who are experiencing frustration, sadness, or loss can see through to the small joys that are reflected in the light and life of Jesus. That the blowing out of the Advent candles is not a loss when it’s not your turn, but a joy found in family and community sharing God’s presence in the hope, peace, joy, and love found in the glow of the Advent season.
Note: If my brother Brad is reading this, I was blowing out the candle because the favorite child always gets to do it.
Angie Seiller
Director of Faith Formation