“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” -Philippians 4:4
As we light the third of the four outer candles on our Advent wreath, we are reminded that Christmas is drawing nearer. The light of this third candle comes even closer to completely driving the darkness away.
This third candle represents ‘joy’.
In the advent wreath, the first two candles are purple, a colour of lament representing that everything isn’t right with the world. The third candle is pink, representing the blending of the purple candles of lament with the pure white of the Christ candle. ‘Joy’ week is meant to be a time when we come up for air, to take a breather as we lead into the home stretch, taking in the moments of joy that we see surrounding us during this season.
And there are indeed many things to be joyful about.
- We experience joy witnessing lives changing through our work.
- We experience joy watching people take steps toward leaving behind their addictions.
- We experience joy by seeing people enter our shelters with no hope, leaving with hope.
I am continually thankful and feel very blessed to have the privilege of working alongside so many wonderful people at THHS. That brings me great joy this Advent season.
We joyfully continue to strive to be ‘The Hand of God in the Heart of the City.’
With joy,
Dion
Forgive me Lord,
For sometimes focusing only on the bad things in life,
And forgetting the many things that cause joy to the world.
Amen