Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring to you Tidings of great Joy.

Luke 2:10

It is that time of year again, when we focus our minds and hearts on joy and good cheer. Thoughts of travel, shopping, and preparing great meals, all to celebrate the joy of the season fills our hearts. From Hanukah gifts and the candles for the Menorah to Advent wreaths and Christmas trees, from the carving of the “roast beast” to ginger bread men and sugar plums dancing in our head, it is that time of year again. Everything this month, from the first fruits of cultural feast to the Kwanza Principles of the Nguzo Sab, from the celebration of the ancestors to the lighting of the Kinara, is focused on celebration.

The season this year has been kind of strange for me. For fourteen years, I set up Christmas trees and the nativity my parish church. I hustled to prepare Christmas dinners for parishioners and to take care packages and gift baskets to the poor. I shoveled snow and cleared the church sidewalks to make way for church members to come to church. I watched children in Christmas plays, and sang carols with the church choir, watching folks sway as they sang. I smiled at the joy in the children’s faces when Santa came to visit the parish. Many warm memories of the communities I have served—Chicago, Oakland, Los Angeles, Lafayette (Louisiana), Saint Louis, and Indianapolis—and of my family gathering to celebrate the birth of the Savior and my own birth the day after, fill my mind as we draw close to the holy days this month. It is that time of year again: I have begun trimming the tree, cleaning the house, getting ready as my parents move from one house to another, on their way here to escape the great snow. Much to their surprise the winds here also blow cold.

In the midst of off all the preparations, the warm memories, and the desire for joy, we are stupefied by the challenges that we face, from war to financial crisis, from joblessness to unjust immigration practices, to the increase of homelessness and hunger. We are daunted by the magnitude of the matters that we face. One might find it difficult even to find a reason to be joyful. The possibility of being thankful seems to be wanting as we look out and see in front of us these great challenges to overcome. Where are the tidings of great joy? To ignore the reality in which we find our selves as individuals, a nation and the world, would do a disservice to the Holy Season which we are preparing to celebrate. God speaks to us now, where we are, and in the midst of what we are facing. We do not become lost in the emotion of the feelings, sights, and sounds of the season, but rather we look to our God in whom we place our trust.

The words of the Incarnation account ring load and clear in my ears as I hear the Angels proclaim, “Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you tidings of great Joy.” For the believer, the person of faith, one is able to see not problems but possibilities even in the face of the most challenging matters. When we look on our past and reflect on our present, instead of wondering, “Why me?,” we ask the question: “How can I?” The reality is that struggle and challenges will always be with us, but the ability to change a challenge into a possibility requires a change of heart and renewal of the mind. With heart and mind made new, the words of the Gospel become a source for courage to face and create new possibilities. Despair is transformed to hope, fear is transformed to faith, and then the impossible becomes possible, the unthinkable becomes the thinkable, and the undoable, doable. The great news is that because of God’s love for us, the world is different, it is made new by His identification with our reality and by uniting Himself to us by becoming one of us. Our God tells us that we are not alone, we are not left to fend for ourselves.

Although we will need to make choices, and perhaps even cut back here and trim there, the news for us is still cause for joy. The voice of the prophet takes on new meaning for us: “For a child is born to us, a son is given us, upon his shoulders dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:5
Emmanuel becomes a reality for us, for God is truly with us.