This is my favorite time of year to watch movies on television. There is always an abundance of stories that have a mix of love/hate, joy, and tragedy in them. There are movies of families who have been living in discord being brought together by the miracle of Christmas; movies of those who do not believe in the miracle of Christmas being recipients of a miracle; stories that warm our hearts and bring tears to our eyes. I call these good movies, you know the ones; they find that place that exists within each of us and then guide us to the conclusion we long for but have not often spoken of. Movies that reconnect us with the moments in our past that bring fulfillment and joy to our hearts during the time when we see the world preparing for the biggest holiday and family celebration of the year. Well, yes I admit it; I am a TV junkie during the holiday season.
I am quite certain I am not alone in this. Many of us choose to see how how God can bring good out of our broken lives; joy out of our sorrow. But the real reason I am so enthralled is because while each story may seem to have a different plot along the way, they ultimately share a common message: the messages of hope, peace, and love.
We will look at each aspect of those messages during the weeks of Advent. Just as the characters in the story lines of Christmas movies will experience some form of or maybe all of those dynamics - we too will be guided by scripture to focus on those individually during the coming weeks. Each week we light the Advent candle, learning about the focus for the coming week and being reminded it is an addition to the previous week or weeks focus we will be guided to see the expectations we are privileged to enjoy because of God's desire to bring all of those into the life of humanity. We will be reminded of the waxing and waning of our sometimes rocky relationship with God and each other.
While we are getting sentimental at the expressions of Christmas love through the modality of movies let us remember that while we are only watching a movie, real life is happening all around us and we could be any of those characters portryaedin those movies. We might be the one inneed of hope, the one of need of peace, the one in need of joy or the one in need of love. We might be the one called to offer hope, to bring peace, to share joy or to offer love to this hurting and broken world.
God calls us this time of year to anticipate the birth of the Christ Child into our lives; the gift that brought hope, peace, joy, and love to the world. So this year, as you watch Hollywood's portrayal of the Christmas story take the time to find the Christ Child in each of them; and find yourself in each one of them and see what God will do with it.
May the God of Hope fill you with all joy in believing,
Have a blessed Christmas,
Mother Sue +
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