ADVENT 3 - THE CANDLE OF JOY

JOY—What is real JOY? We find exuberance in so many facets of our lives, however, we often fail to seek out JOY or to realize just how much JOY is in our daily life. Living a JOY-filled life on the surface can seem an easy thing to do. However, for some, it’s a struggle. We all know that person—the one who, no matter what may be going on in their life, is always JOYful. They’re always smiling, they always have a positive attitude, and nothing seems to get them down. What is their secret?

The scripture is full of examples where JOY is mentioned and proclaimed, and the word JOY occurs 214 times in the Bible. In studying these various examples of JOY in the scriptures, it’s no secret that the overarching theme of JOY is LOVE. “But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” Galatians 5:22. LOVE, pure and simple. Undiluted JOY. When we have Love—love for our fellow mankind, love for our friends and loved ones, love for ourselves—we will have JOY. It’s impossible not to. And in seeking out JOY, we must be willing to take a bad situation and see the good in it, however difficult that may seem. In Proverbs 17:22, we read “A Joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” There it is. It’s up to each of us to find the JOY in everything we do. Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  We are to find JOY in each day, whether it be a good day, or a bad day, stormy or clear. 

Mary proclaims in her Song of JOY, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.” As frightened as Mary must have been—young and with child, no family to speak of other than her husband, Joseph, leading a nomadic existence, giving birth in a barn full of farm animals, using a feeding trough as a crib—she found JOY! Let us be JOYFUL, let us seek out JOY, let us LOVE, and be JOYFUL in that LOVE. 

May you find JOY this Advent and Christmas and may the LOVE and JOY of God in Christ sustain you through all your days. 

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, REJOICE!

--Philippians 4:4

With Joyful Love,

Tim

Tim Brumfield

Director of Music Ministry, Organist, and Choirmaster.

An improvisation on “Veni Emmanuel” (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel) by Tim Brumfield of St. Gregory's

A piano improvisation on “Veni Emmanuel” (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel) by Tim Brumfield.