Joy—Glory of Christmas 2005--With a December 2025 Update

From Luke Chapter 2:

 

(Luke 2:8-10)  And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

 

(Luke 2:15-20)  When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."  So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,  and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

 

 

I can relate to the mixture of emotions those shepherds were experiencing on that first Christmas…confusion, fear, wonder…and eventually, thankfulness and joy.  This past year (2005) has sometimes been a bit of a challenge for me to be joyful.  A car accident in April left me with constant neck pain.  This summer, my mother was diagnosed with cancer, and she and our family endured the weeks of waiting, surgery, recovery, and treatments.  And, the past three months have been ones of great sadness as I watch the devastation and difficult recovery from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans—the place where I grew up.  The sadness and losses sustained by friends and former neighbors are heart-wrenching.

 

In the midst of all this sorrow, there has been one person who continues to model “joy” for me in a profound way.  My Dad.  The funny thing is he has very little reason, humanly speaking, to be joyful.  In addition to many challenges throughout life, more recently, he has endured 9 long years of being severely debilitated.  Although he is mentally alert, due to a series of strokes, he is now limited to the point of being unable to speak or to help himself.  He resides in a nursing home.

 

In spite of all this, he still has the best sense of humor of anyone I know.  He continues to have a ready laugh and a warm smile.  His joy…deeper than simply “happiness”…comes from within.  His joy is clearly NOT based on external circumstances—but from, I think, two things:

 

First, he cultivated an attitude of joy throughout his life.  He made a choice to be grateful, thankful, to celebrate…and to see beyond circumstances.  And, second, this attitude was based on his knowledge and love of Jesus…who is a God of enormous joy. 

 

It’s a strange truth that often those who have suffered most are also those who have known and show great joy.  My Dad believes Luke’s writings of good news of great joy for all people—that transcends his circumstances.  I, too, believe that joy is rooted in who God is and His message to us. 

 

May we each know His soul-filling joy…this season and always.

 

December 2025 update:

Well, twenty years and a lot of life have passed since that writing. Both of my parents are now gone. First my dear father in 2007—after 10 long and often tedious years in two nursing homes and a number of hospital visits. We used to joke that he truly had nine lives—surviving C-Diff and Norovirus (which each took the lives of fellow residents/patients), recovering from a nasty infection and a head-injury caused by less-than-competent staff. Yet, still he endured. Patiently, graciously, and joyfully in spite of it all.

 

All of that was helped along by my dear mother who was at his side each and every day—as his committed companion, and to ensure his care, to advocate for him, to bolster his spirits. She survived two bouts of cancer and related major surgeries, follow-up treatments, COVID-19, pneumonia, and the indignities of late-life dementia and the resulting need to submit to in-home care. She died in November of 2022.

 

In my phone, I still have the calendar reminder:

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.—Romans 12:12-13—Mom and Dad exemplified. Every evening at 8:00 p.m., I read those words—read and spoken by my brother at Mom’s memorial service just three years ago this month. So true.

 

Would that we could all be

·         Joyful in hope.

·         Patient in afflication.

·         Faithful in prayer.

·         Generous.

·         Hospitable.

Not just in this Advent-Christmas season, but all the time.

 

I am grateful for the parents I had—who were always growing in their faith and in their Christlikeness.

 

 

Important resources:

 

 

Shirley Giles Davis, author of God's Affirmations For You: A Book of Encouragement—A 12-Week Devotional Practice, the God. Gifts. You. Your Unique Calling and Design workbook, Your Unique Design Class Guide, Your Unique Design Facilitator Guide, DIOS. DONES. TÚ.: Tu llamado y diseño único (Spanish Edition), and Gifts-Calling-Purpose blog, is a consultant, coach, facilitator who has worked with hundreds of faith-based organizations, nonprofit agencies, and executive leaders in a diversity of fields for four decades. She currently serves as Catalyst for Equipping at her church.

 

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Shirley Giles DavisAdvent, Christmas joy, luke 2:8-10, Luke 2:15-20, shepherds and Christmas, nursing home, long illness, cultivating joy, good news of great joy, joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer, practice hospitality, Romans 12:12-13