Sometimes Joy Finds Us

It was Marie Kondo who popularized a kind of de-cluttering strategy that involves asking of the various items in our households – books, clothing, photos, bric-a-brac, whatever – “Does this bring me joy?”  If it does, keep it; if not, thank it for being part of your life, toss it and move on.
 
This is the season – and this weekend the Advent Sunday – when joy comes most quickly to mind, and it is natural to ask where joy might be found in these days.  But sometimes the question gets turned on its head and surprises us:  rather than our discovering joy, sometimes joy finds us.
 
I read the most delightful news item this morning.  It was a brief survey of children’s letters to Santa for Christmas 2020, and I was struck by this one:  a little girl from Georgia named Jasmyne wrote her Christmas wish list with a deliberate hand, “End of Covid 19.  World Peace.  Climate Control.  New X Box.”  One gift for her, three gifts for humanity.  2020 is teaching us many things about ourselves, and one of them is how to live happily in a time of decreased expectations.  If I were Santa, I would bring her the X Box on the merits of her wish list alone.  Joy found me this morning in Jasmyne’s letter.
 
Join us this Sunday morning as we explore other ways that Joy finds you and me.  One way joy comes to our United Church of Chester is through music, which means this is going to be a joy-filled week for us.  Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 we are hosting a Christmas Carol Sing on our Facebook Live page – you can join in by the same method we come to church every Sunday.  And then next weekend we offer our annual Christmas Cantata – it will be a recorded re-presentation of last year’s Cantata, “The Song Heard ’Round the World” by Joseph Martin.  You’ll find a link to it in next Friday’s email message. 

 
May joy and blessings abound!
 
Here is tomorrow’s bulletin, and the link to Sunday worship:

Sunday December 13, 2020

Link to Service