“Therefore encourage
one another with these words.”
As we enter further into November, the holiday season seems
to loom greater and greater on the horizon. Already stores are displaying their
Christmas items. Though so far they are mostly the items you might need ahead
of time – gifts appropriate for shipping and the things you’d need for crafting
and creating projects that take time – it is still clear that the festivities
which mark the end of our calendar year will be upon us soon.
And yet, the week after All Saints Sunday, I am reminded
that the holidays and festivities approaching us are not signs of grace and
hope for everyone. For some, Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas are reminders
only of their grief or isolation. For others, the busy-ness of the season is
only another weight: another chore, another set of errands, another cost of
living in a materialistic society. All these weights on already weighed down
bodies, minds, and hearts, can create quite a strain.
Everyone has the pieces they like and dislike about the
holidays, and for whatever like or dislike you have, I can almost guarantee there
is someone who feels opposite. Do the stores start carrying Christmas decorations
too soon or too late? Do the songs start too quickly or too slowly? Are there
too many family traditions or not enough?
And, somehow, in the midst of the busy-ness (or not
busy-enough-ness) there are emotions: joy, anticipation, thanks, praise, hope,
celebration, grief, fear, frustration, forgiveness, peace.
Our second reading for this Sunday comes from Paul’s first
letter to the Thessalonians. He spends some time reminding them of the impact
of Christ’s resurrection, and our connection to it, and the reading ends with
the simple line, “Therefore, encourage one another with these words.” Encourage
one another. What can we do in these weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, before
the real hustle and bustle of Advent and the Christmas season begin, to
encourage one another? What simple note sent or patient smile given could have
ripples of effect?
Our God is with us in all we say and do. Our God knows
exactly how we feel about the upcoming holidays, and is already there ahead of
us, waiting to welcome us into the season, to remind us of God’s love, no
matter how busy or distracted the commercialism of the holidays may make us.
And God has already sent God’s most encouraging Word, Jesus Christ, who knows
and loves us, who has died and risen for us, binding us to his death and resurrection
through baptism. What then is a spare moment of our time, given to other around
us, who may be more in need of encouragement than we could ever know?
May God’s Spirit wash you anew this November, and remind you
always of God’s grace and mercy.
Thanks be to God.
Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment