I remember several years ago, I was leading a Sunday morning class, and we talked about family traditions at Christmas time. Of course, for some of us, certain traditions can feel soul-killing. However, others infuse the season with great meaning and hope.

One family spoke about having an Advent wreath on their dining room table, with four candles on the edges and a Christ candle in the center. They would light the candles on Sunday night of each week. The first week they would light the candle and ask each person around the table to share: what brings you hope? On the second Sunday, they would light the candle and ask: what brings you peace. And so on with joy and love.

Another single man in that class spoke of the importance of volunteering at least once during Advent to help folks in need in his community. Others spoke of intentionally adding a time of prayer each morning or evening. Someone recently shared with me that in December, she spends just a few minutes each morning, reflecting on the Christmas story in the Gospel of Luke.

Have you ever noticed that when we put our heart and our soul into something, it is rich and rewarding? Think about a job or a relationship. However, if we give only half our heart, we never really get to experience the fullness of what it could be. This is true also with our faith, isn’t it?

My prayer for you is that you would reclaim these four weeks of Advent as a holy season. May you take time to reflect and to worship and allow the deeper meaning and joy of the season to sink in. Find the traditions that make this season rich… Let go of those that do not.

Let us pray: Loving God, even as we prepare our homes with decorations and lights, we also prepare your hearts. We ask that you would meet us in a powerful way this year. Even in the face of our struggles and hardships, fill us with your joy and with an abundance of hope. Amen.

Yesterday was the first Sunday in Advent. And so we have begun a new year in the Christian liturgical calendar. We usually begin this season in church with readings about Jesus’s second coming. As the weeks progress toward Christmas, we then move toward the birth narratives.

The placement of these scriptures is intentional. We begin by remembering where God is going with history, that there will be a time when God will wipe away every tear; when mourning and weeping will be no more. As the weeks pass by, we then shift to Jesus’ birth, the beginning of the fulfillment of these prophecies. And we celebrate that God came among us in the person of Jesus.

My prayer for you is that you would reclaim this time as a holy season. Yes, there are parties to attend and shopping to be done. But I do hope that you will take the time to reflect and to worship. Brainstorm ways you personally might be able to give back and serve others. And as you do, may the deeper meaning and joy of season sink in.

Let us pray: Loving God, we claim the promise today that what you began on Christmas morning more than 2,000 years ago, you will one day bring to completion. As we long for your peace, joy, hope, and love, help us to make decisions and commitments that reflect that longing. Meet us in this holy time, we ask in Jesus’s name. Amen.

There’s an old, no doubt apocryphal, story about a man who claimed to be the most accurate fortuneteller in the world. One day a young man came to this fortuneteller and said, “I have only one real question about my future: how will my life end?” The fortuneteller gazed into the crystal ball and then stated with conviction, “Your life will end when you die.”

No wonder he was so accurate!

The man nodded and then said, “Yes, but will I be happy?” “Ah,” said the fortuneteller, “that has nothing to do with the future but everything to do with what you do in the present!

He was right again, wasn’t he?

God wants our lives to be joyful, abundant, and whole, supported by a solid foundation of faith.

In Psalm 81, God says, “If you would but listen to me… I would feed you with the finest wheat…” This promise is not just about food. It is not about material possessions or perfect health. Nor is it a promise that our problems will disappear. But it is a promise for a full, meaningful, and abundant life. If we would just listen…

My prayer is that you and I would set priorities and make decisions in the present that allow us time to listen to God’s voice, time in quiet, time in prayer, time in worship, time in service to others. And as we do, may we notice a deeper joy – a joy that comes from being fed with the finest of wheat!

Let us pray: God of hope, we come before you even now. We want to hear your voice. We need your guidance and your grace. As we pause to open our hearts, tune our souls to the movement of your Spirit. We rest now in your presence, trusting that you will grant us the wisdom we need for this day. Amen.

Paul Harvey once told a beautiful story about an old man who would weekly visit a pier on the east coast of Florida. Every Friday night, until his death in 1973, he would return with a large bucket of shrimp. The seagulls would flock to him, and he would feed them from his bucket.

However, as you might have guessed, there is a backstory.

In October 1942, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was on a flight mission over the South Pacific during World War II. Somewhere over the middle of the ocean he and his men became lost and beyond the reach of radio. The crew of eight had to ditch their plane in the Central Pacific ocean.

Over the course of 24 days, they drifted thousands of miles in the scorching sun, torrential rain, and rough seas. They spend many sleepless nights as sharks circled and even rammed their raft. Most significantly, they faced the prospect of starvation as the bulk of their rations were destroyed by saltwater. Things were dire, and they prayed for divine intervention.

In Captain Eddie’s own words, “Cherry, the pilot, read the service that afternoon, and we finished with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise. There was some talk, but it tapered off in the oppressive heat. With my hat pulled down over my eyes to keep out some of the glare, I dozed off. Something landed on my head. I knew that it was a seagull. I don’t know how I knew, I just knew. Everyone else knew too.”

Captain Eddie caught the gull. They ate what they could and then used the intestines for bait to catch fish. This gift buoyed their hopes and infused them with a will to live. In fact, the men credited their survival to this one lone seagull, uncharacteristically hundreds of miles from land, who seemed to offer itself as a sacrifice.

Of course, Captain Eddie never forgot. Every Friday evening, so the story goes, about sunset along the east coast of Florida, you could see an old man walking, white-haired, slightly bent. His bucket was filled with shrimp to feed the gulls. This was his way of remembering, and giving thanks.

Let us pray: We have set this day aside, O God, to also remember and give thanks. We too have been blessed by your bountiful provision, by your goodness and grace. Out of gratitude, we return our hearts and our lives to you. Use us in the days and weeks ahead to bless others, and by so doing to bless you. Great is thy faithfulness, O God our Father. Great is thy faithfulness; through Jesus Christ. Amen.

One of my favorite passages of scripture is found in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians 5:16-18: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Very rarely in scripture does Paul, or anyone else for that matter, say this clearly: This is God’s will for you… But here it is. And it’s very simple – very spelled out. But by no means easy.

When we look at this a little closer we see that rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks are integrally linked. Rejoicing and giving thanks are prayers in and of themselves.

It is really an outlook on life that Paul’s talking about. And it is an outlook that implies a need to stop and notice – to look around. When I was writing this, I had to pause for just a moment and take my own advice. I was outside on my back porch and I noticed the birds singing, the cicada chirping, the morning sunlight streaming through the trees. By stopping and noticing and delighting in it, I felt an almost immediate upwelling of joy.

To rejoice is to take delight in, find pleasure in, revel in, to relish, to savor. Paul wrote this letter in Greek and the word he used is the word for rejoice is the word chara. Have joy. Chara comes from the root word charis which means gift.

If joy comes from charis, gift, then to rejoice is to be aware of gift: gift of life, gift of breath, gift of forgiveness, gift of reconciliation, gift of being able to get up in the morning; gift of the summer sunshine on my back. Gift.

To rejoice is to be aware that all of life is a gift. This moment is a gift. These people around me are a gift. The ability to communicate is a gift. My family, these friends – all gifts.

On this Thanksgiving week, I invite you again to pause and take note of the gifts that surround you. Perhaps create your own list. And then, may you give thanks and rejoice!

Let us pray: We thank you, O God, for our faith, for the strength, guidance, and courage we need to face the obstacles of everyday life. We thank you for friends and family and even strangers who do make the journey of life easier and more enjoyable. Today, help us to express our gratitude to them even as we express it to you: Thank you, God. Amen.