Hope and joy
The dark purple bottle caught my eye as I passed through the store’s fragrance department.
Calvin Klein Euphoria.
I couldn’t pass by the opportunity to smell the sweet scent, so I re-routed, making my way to the sample bottle.
Opening the lid, I stuck my nose millimeters away from the spout. In the days of COVID, that’s probably a big no-no, but germs were the last thing on my mind.
The smell was strong and pleasant, just as I had remembered. As the fragrance filled my nose, my mind was filled with sweet memories.
Memories of my Nana.
Two and half years since I’ve been in her presence after spending 30 years of enjoying her. And no matter how much time passes, I still find myself missing her throughout the year – but especially at Christmas.
No one is free of hardship. How nice to never face tragedy, but that’s not reality. At least, not yet. And the holidays magnify the pain, don’t they? The memories and traditions find ways to increase the sting of loss, regardless of the type of loss. Maybe it was the loss of a person through death. Maybe it was the loss of a dream. The loss of a marriage. The loss of your plans.
But Christmas isn’t a season of loss, it’s a season of gain.
In the darkest, bleakest, loneliest season, we are reminded that Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the World, the long-expected Messiah, became flesh and joined us on this side of Heaven. And he came bearing light and love that infused weary hearts with hope and joy.
After all, isn’t that how the shepherds felt after they saw him?
Isn’t that how Mary felt after she held him?
Isn’t that how the magi felt when the star appeared and they found him?
Joy! Joy to the world! The whole world! Immanuel, God with us, had come.
A day is coming when we will see him again. Just as many were there to share in the joy of his birth, so the whole world will be there to share in the joy of his return.
So may Christmas fill us with hope and joy no matter what loss we’ve faced. No matter how deep the hurt, how raw the pain, how dark the circumstance, let us rejoice for what God has done.
Because it is God who so loved the world, loved you and loved me, that He sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, so that we would not perish but have eternal life. And that, my friends, is the hope and joy of Christmas!
