A Weary World Rejoices
We’re almost half way through Advent today!
As well as this AdventWord daily posting habit I have enjoyed Kate Bowler’s annual Seasonal devotionals, both Lent and Advent.
This year’s is called ‘The Weary World Rejoices’ and you can download it by clicking on the picture->
Kate Bowler is a Canadian writer with a Ted Talk, books, podcasts, videos and lots of free resources. I came across her in 2018 and she’s challenged, inspired and taught me so much.
The command to rejoice does something especially valuable for those of us in distress. As I have said before, pain and suffering isolate us; because our affliction is so real and undeniable and immediate, we are naturally persuaded to concentrate on it. And that path takes us deeper into dark places in ourselves where it is not always healthy to go—especially alone. Dwelling on our hurts—as if that is all we were—not only robs us of hope in the future, but, far worse, it robs us of our investment in the precious present. By failing to experience joy, even in the midst of crappy times, we can be engulfed entirely by our circumstances.
When I saw ‘Rejoice’ on the list from Forward Movement I remembered this quote. I had printed it off from Kate’s blog and had it by my desk for years.
I also realised – while writing – that it had not made it to this office, but it is now back on my board. It is good to remember when life is chaotic and overwhelming with a huge big crisis; or even when there isn’t any one thing but lots of small issues or problems going wrong.
Paul tells us to learn to rejoice in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – NIV), I’ve not got there yet. I prefer the Message version which tells us to be cheerful, it somehow feels more manageable!
I hope you visit Kate’s site and listen to her words – or those of her podcast guests and that they help you remember that ‘Life is Beautiful. Life is Hard.’ and to rejoice daily.
Wendrie Heywood
MBS Founder
