Advent Week 3: Joy
When joy barges in and reminds us we’re still here.
Joy is a bit of a trickster! It doesn’t show up on schedule, and it almost never arrives when I’m trying to be Very Serious about my spiritual life. Instead, it sneaks in sideways—through an old hymn I didn’t know I needed, or a memory that suddenly feels like comfort instead of loss, or a laugh that escapes before I can decide if I’m in the mood for it.
This is the week the church hands us the rose-colored candle—Gaudete, “rejoice”—and honestly, it feels a little audacious. Joy? Now? In the middle of waiting and worry and the endless parade of tragedies? Joy while we’re juggling grief and gift lists?
But here’s what Advent keeps teaching me: joy is not something we engineer. It is something God gives. It is Christ drawing near in the middle of our wildly unfinished, achingly ordinary lives. Sometimes joy knocks politely. Sometimes it barges in with its shoes still on. Either way, it stays long enough to remind us that the story isn’t over yet—and all is not lost.
This week’s reflections:
Each devotion will go live early that morning, so be sure to refer back to this list as you journey through the weeks of Advent.
Sunday, December 14 — Advent Day 15: Repeat the sounding joy.
Monday, December 15 — Advent Day 16: Blue Christmas is not a weakness.
Tuesday, December 16 — Advent Day 17: Chagall’s Riot of Color
Wednesday, December 17 — Advent Day 18: The Candle in the Window
Thursday, December 18 — Advent Day 19: Elmo, Tamagotchis, and the Joy of Being Known
Friday, December 19 — Advent Day 20: The Accumulated Joy of Eighty Christmases
Saturday, December 20 — Advent Day 21: Joyful, anyway
Listen along:
Our Required Listening: Holiday 2025 playlist is here to keep you company in the season of waiting. Listen along to some of my favorite holiday tunes this year on Apple Music and Spotify!
Joy is a bright butterfly
that we encounter on our way
to where the sorrowed hearts will cry
that they cannot relive yesterday.
It flits haphazard o'er the grass
that has overgrown our dreams,
and through rhythmless wingbeats pass
the flash of knowing what it means
to be alive though hope has faded
to dance when we sre standing still,
to laugh again, a child unjaded,
aligned once more with unknown Will
that we can't see nor comprehend
but which holds Love that does not end.
I recall hearing someone recently say, “Joy is not a betrayal.”
We feel surprised by it sometimes and often feel we can’t put it on display when the world is crumbling. Yet it’s the glue that will piece us all back together. Let’s not hide our joy.
Thanks Kate. I look forward to this week’s devotions. 🙏🏼