Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

There are some days when we have trouble rejoicing. But we are in the season of joy! So, what if we don't feel so joyful? On Sunday, I quoted from a book by Rabbi Harold Kushner When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough . One day, a man made an appointment with him to talk about some "religious questions." Kushner wondered what the man might have on his mind and was surprised when the man held forth on the meaning of life. Here's what the man said:

Two weeks ago, for the first time in my life I went to the funeral of a man my own age. I didn't know him well, but we worked together, talked to each other from time to time, had kids about the same age. He died suddenly over the weekend. A bunch of us went to the funeral, each of us thinking, It could just have easily have been me. That was two weeks ago. They have already replaced him at the office. I hear his wife is moving out of state to live with her parents. Two weeks ago he was working fifty feet away from me, and now it's as if he never existed. It's like a rock falling into a pool of water. For a few seconds, it makes ripples in the water, and then the water is the same as it was before, but the rock isn't there anymore. Rabbi, I've hardly slept at all since then. I can't stop thinking that it could happen to me, that one day it WILL happen to me, and a few days later I will be forgotten as if I had never lived. Shouldn't a man's life be more than that? (P. 20)

I think we all worry at times whether our life will have any meaning. At Liturgy and Living on Sunday, one of us wondered aloud if anyone would come to her funeral if she were old and if many of her friends and family had gone as well. A sense of meaning is important to us as human beings. As I grow older, one of the places to rejoice during Christmastide is in my memories of loved one now gone revived by this time of year. I remember my mother's grand Christmas decorating and parties. I remember my father's loving attempt to hide unwrapped presents under the tree. I will always love Dad K's laugh and Grandmommy crying out "Christmas Gift!" when she and Granddaddy arrived at the Kelleher home on Christmas morning. How Nana always gave away the gift--"I hope I got you the right size for your shoulders and that you like purple, " and Pop-Pop's red sweater vest that matched his jolly, red, Irish face. Those people have mattered in my life and always will. None of them were famous in the terms of the world, but they will always be famous to me. And because they gave me love, I can love others as well. The Incarnation--the birth of Christ in our hearts anew--happens one person at a time. We are able to live into the words of Paul in Philippians because we have known love. Pass it on.

Text: Philippians 4:4-7

Pondering: Remember those you love and see no longer and their Christmas gift to you that you hold in your heart this time of year. How can you pass that love on?

In Christ's Love,