Christmas Joy?

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee,
Opening to the sun above.

Today’s Sunday song is from Sister Act 2. I love the energy, enthusiasm and joy of the young people that breaks through the formal church religion…

Musing… I often think about hope, compassion, faith… but joy? As a Christmas-Bah-Humbug Brit, a senior gentleman, I have my dignity and reputation to consider! What does joy look like for me? Feeling joy? Displaying joy?

Yesterday, Christmas Day, was a good day.

It started with church. We sang familiar carols and considered the well-known story of the shepherds… ‘Don’t be afraid…’, ‘Glory to God…’, ‘Peace to all…’ Ordinary working men, supernatural angels, light, a new-born baby… and ‘Good news of great joy…’

Musing… Perhaps joy can be found by welcoming the unexpected, the unplanned, by not closing my mind to the supernatural…

We returned home. The family gathered. There were 11 of us. Plentiful food and drink… presents were given and received. There was lots of talking and laughter. Family traditions, expectations, ‘Do you remember the Christmas when…?’ There was the family togetherness of mixed ages, different stages and varied experiences of life.

Musing… There was something special about family, about acceptance and love that brings joy – felt and shown.

The family left. We flopped into a chair and watched ‘Call the Midwife’. Midwives in East London 50-60 years ago. Good wholesome stories. Complicated pregnancies. Issues of race, drugs, religion, sickness, marriage…

Musing… There was joy in love and the birth of a baby… It seems a familiar Christmas theme…

I went to bed content. There was still Christmas debris that can wait to be cleared up later… Perhaps I’ve learnt a little about joy; I may even have felt and displayed joy!

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day!