“In days to come the mountain of God’s house will be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills and all the nations shall stream to it.”
~Isaiah 2:2
Most people are still putting away any Halloween stuff they still have lying around and are, at most, thinking about the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays. As someone who walks in the church world, I am knee deep in thinking about Advent and Christmas. It is not only the department stores that are in this game! In order to be fully prepared for the coming season, much planning,thinking,scheming began weeks ago. That may be surprising for some people but it is the truth.
Our church theme for Advent is ‘In Days to Come……Great Joy’, a theme that arose out of a group of people gathered in a room, reading the Hebrew and Christian texts for the four Sundays of November 28-December 19. After the scripture was read, lively conversation followed. It was a joy for me to watch and listen to the interplay. These are not what I would call unfamiliar texts to anyone sitting around the table. But, in many ways, people listened as if they were hearing them for the first time. We all came from different parts of church work….those responsible for communications, youth and children’s ministries, music, worship……all engaged in listening for the few words or one phrase that we could live with and, hopefully, live into for the beginning days of winter, for this upcoming reflective season. People will be invited to write meditations on this theme. We will weave it into all our liturgy. We will try to wear it like a Christmas dress or a warm, winter coat.
And so now I find myself walking around thinking about what this string of six words really means. ‘In days to come’. Is this day, the one I am walking around in right now, included? Or is it a phrase that simply points people to some time yet-to-be, in some distant future? The phrase seems to imply that there is not sufficient joy right now. Or does it?
‘In Days to Come……Great Joy’. Not a little bit of happiness. Not a gentle smile or a warm, fuzzy feeling. But Great Joy. What does Great Joy look like? What does it feel like? Will I know it when I see it, when I experience it? What does Great Joy look like to you? When have you had it last?
The beauty and sunshine of the lingering autumn is still glowing brilliantly.When will it end? I watched a squirrel yesterday in the oak tree outside my office window. It carried an apple as big as its head in its tiny hands. I watched as it stopped,nibbling wildly at the ruby red fruit protruding from its miniature brown hands. Around and around the apple turned. Something must have moved below on the ground and the squirrel clamped its jaws down tightly on the apple while managing to run higher and higher into the now naked limbs of the stately tree. Before winter finally gets its grip on us, this squirrel was storing up calories for the frigid days ahead. Perhaps it was also storing up joy, great joy, in the sweetness of the apple and its brilliant red shine against the dying of color.
Thanksgiving will soon be upon us and just days after that, Advent. The season of waiting, of anticipation, of expecting God to be born in our midst will creep in and move us with a swift whoosh toward the celebration of Christmas. But in those days……in these days…..we still can watch for the great joy that is ours. If we are awake. If we are open to the juicy, red apples that fall our way everyday.