Dear Reader:

From the devotional Finding Peace at Christmas (RBC Ministries) comes the true story of Simon, an immigrant from the Netherlands to the United States. His wife, Kay, and all three children were born in this country. Then, as the children grew, Jenny married Roberto from Panama, Bill married Vania from Portual, and Lucas married Bora from South Korea.

On Christmas Eve the family started the tradition of gathering together to celebrate the birth of Jesus by forming a circle, holding hands, and singing “Silent Night” together in each one’s native tongue. The first time it happened chills ran down everyone’s back and one member of the family commented that they now all felt what the shepherds must have felt on that “silent night”  long ago.

The silence of that night came to an abrupt halt when an angel told the shepherds a baby had been born. God’s gracious gift, His Son, was announced on that silent night and the announcement “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people” changed the world forever.

What a gift we all received that night…we received joy! Not undependable happiness based on circumstance…but eternal joy that can not be deflated by circumstance because it is placed so deeply in all of us.

Last Sunday, our favorite son from Charleston, Stephen Colbert, was certainly full of joy as he spoke to Meet the Press about an “Eureka” moment he had when he first realized that it is the “discovery, not the invention” that brings us the most joy on earth.

It is not his life-long dream of hosting a late show coming to fulfillment that brings him joy these days but the process of interacting with his guests and learning new things that keeps him in a perpetual state of joy. It is the process…not the final project that is important in life.  (He does exude joy every time I see him on his show.)

Orville Wright, who out-lived his brother, Wilbur, by several decades was asked by a reporter one time…about the joy the two brothers must have felt when the first heaver-than-air machine left the ground and flew that famous day in Kitty Hawk, N.C.

He paused and shook his head. “No that was not our most joyful day…the most joyful day was when our father brought home a toy helicopter (made in France) and gave it to us. That night, and subsequent nights thereafter, Wilbur and I would let our imaginations go wild far into the night planning for the day man would fly. Now that was pure joy!”  

Ben and I went to see the movie JOY the day after Christmas and we loved it. It is based on the true story of Joy Manano who invented the “Miracle Mop” and became a ‘mop millionairess’ selling it on QVC and other cable vendors.

The actress, Jennifer Lawrence, plays the role of Manano, and the underlying theme of the movie centers around her ability, as a small child, to create cut-outs where her dream world lives.. It is her grandmother who tells her that she will find joy in this world and to never settle for less. Every time her world starts falling apart…it is her return to the creating process that keeps her path open for new possibilities in her search for joy.

So until tomorrow…Let us remember the joy of being a child again whose dreams have no limits and experiencing, once again, the pure joy we felt in creating the world we wanted to live in; the world according to our imagination and creation. The world of joy!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh