Joy to the world … you betcha!
It is the most wonderful time of the year, correct? It seems often times that we struggle at this time of year with so many things that weigh us down. Shopping, cooking, cleaning, traveling, bills, food, weather — all of these things seem to allow us to lose a clear picture of the true meaning of Christmas.
There is an important line from the Christmas carol “Joy to the World” that often times gets overlooked in our annual singing. The line is so simple and beautiful, “Let every heart, prepare him room.”
Take a moment and let that sink in. The song asks for each one of us to prepare our hearts to make room for him, Jesus, the King of Glory. The true reason of the season.
Our hearts can be so heavy, but it is time to open them up and be filled with the joy that not only Christmas can bring, but life itself. We only become better people when we open our hearts to each other. In this time of year, in our country and world, we have to start to open our hearts and prepare room for those who are less fortunate than we are, who may have different ideas and beliefs than we do and those who are struggling to see they are loved and appreciated. If we don’t start truly developing a concept and life full of empathy we will continue to sit back and say “those people.” When it really comes down to it “all people” deserve to be loved and cared for.
The sad part is this: most of us only sing “Joy to the World” at Christmastime. Why can’t we be joyful the other 364 days of the year? Why can’t every heart prepare him room? Why have we gotten so far away from this?
As we look back on the past year it is easy to reflect on the things that may have been troubling in our lives: loss of loved ones, relationship issues, change or loss of job, maybe you have had to move. All of those things can easily pile up and take over the memories of the past year. But my challenge to you is this, as 2018 ends, what are the things that brought “joy to your world?”
My oldest niece and her husband recently had a baby boy, Leo. I come from a large family (which is truly one of the joys in my world). The morning of Leo’s arrival started at 5:45 a.m. with the 19-person group text that said, “my water broke, we are on the way to the hospital.” What followed was a flurry of texts of prayers, support and jokes along the way. It was a long process. Leo did not arrive until 7:45 p.m., but to think of the event, the texts which covered family members from San Diego to New York City, brought so much joy to our lives. It ended with the culmination of a picture of a beautifully perfect great nephew. What joy was brought to our world with the arrival of Leo. I could go on and on with the joyful things that happened to me in 2018. My other niece, and goddaughter, was married, I ran several 5Ks this year, and even won my age division! I fished up north with two great friends, though I didn’t catch much, and went to Great America and did several roller coasters over and over again. I saw some amazing movies, like Avengers: Civil War, attended some great Broadway shows, had many wonderful dinners with friends and family and so on. There was so much joy to my world in 2018, I can’t wait to see what 2019 holds for me. As we close 2018 and begin 2019, make sure you open your heart to prepare the room for those friends, and strangers, who need your love, empathy and compassion. And finally, keep those joys to your world going all year long. Merry Christmas!
— Joe Peters is the principal at St. Victor School in Monroe. His column appears monthly. He can be reached at joepeters@stvictormonroe.org.
