Whether you believe in putting Christmas decorations up before or after Thanksgiving, either way the time has come. Christmas season is here.
The usual trees, garland, and twinkling lights pop up so early in the fall that I barely notice them at the grocery store, but this week a new shopping bag caught my eye. In white letters on a red background, I studied out the word “Joyful.” It took me a minute to read because the letters were jumbled together. Once I recognized the lettering, its message came without much work. I bought the bag to remind myself of what I’d learned.
A Sermon in a Grocery Store
I’m guessing that Kroger wasn’t trying to preach a sermon, nor did it intend to draw my attention to a biblical text in James 1:2. But the shopping bag’s teaching transformed my quick trip to the grocery store into an encouraging moment of worship. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” (James 1:2). The jumbled up message, “Joyful,” admonished me to count my blessings and express my gratitude for the good things in my life, even when things aren’t really coming together the way I would wish.
I was still thinking about the message a couple of days later as I drove three hours away to help my daughter pack up her apartment. She’s in the midst of a transition, moving to a new city and leaving behind the home she’s known for more than a decade. It had already been a busy week for me before I headed her way. While I was eager to see my daughter, I was not looking forward to the work we needed to do.
James Bryan Smith writes about the transcendent qualities of beauty, goodness and truth in his book The Magnificent Story. Smith describes these as the places in our lives where we can readily see God’s presence with us. I listened to Smith’s podcast, “Things Above” as I drove to the task that lay ahead of me. The podcast, recorded just before Thanksgiving, focused on gratitude and Smith’s words extended the sermon I found on the shopping bag.
A New Level of Gratitude
Gratitude, he explained, is good for everyone. It actually improves brain chemistry and leads to feelings of wellbeing. But Smith encouraged Christians to take gratitude to a whole new level with two practices. First, to give thanks for something good, and in the process to articulate the beauty, goodness and truth inside the thing. Doing so, lifts our eyes to God and focuses our praise not just on the thing but ultimately to the giver of all good things.
Naming the goodness, beauty and truth in God’s gifts equips us to adopt a second and more difficult practice, namely, to thank God in all circumstances. As I drove toward the hard work I anticipated with my daughter, I found it difficult to feel grateful. I could name a dozen better ways than packing
to spend my next few days. But Smith encouraged me to thank God in advance for the goodness that God would be working even in a hard place. I thought again of the fractured “Joyful” on my new shopping bag.
Count it All Joy
In some of the most beautiful poetry in the Bible the prophet Isaiah comforts his readers by reminding them of God’s message:
Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…when you walk through the fire you will not be set ablaze. (Isaiah 43: 1-2).
And so, I started my busy day of packing today with a few moments to give thanks. For my daughter and the joy she brings me, for a simple breakfast of oatmeal and mango yogurt even if I did have to balance it on my lap surrounded by boxes and suitcases. And most of all for the promise that whatever lies ahead, God has promised his presence.
“Count it all joy,” the text from James reminds me. Sorting the apartment’s contents into donate, recycle, toss and keep piles, leaving familiar surroundings, wondering “What’s Next?”, these things have tried to rob my Joy this week. And sometimes they have succeeded. But remembering a warm meal, a cherished relationship, and God’s promise to stay close no matter what, brings me closer to joy, even if it’s a jumbled kind of joy.
Lord, may I, with a heart full of joy, lift my eyes to see the goodness, beauty and truth of your presence in the tangle of life I’m facing today.
Thanks for the reminder!! To what city is she moving?!!💕💁🏼♀️🙏🏻