December 8, 2019

Today was our annual joy service at my church, and it indeed was joyful and fun. This is the season of joy and we do well to celebrate it. But I know  the undercurrent of sorrow that runs through this season. Joy and woe are woven fine…

I thought this morning of friends

whose wives and husbands have died this last year, some very untimely…

who are undergoing treatment for stage IV cancer…

who are estranged from family members…

whose marriages have ended in divorce 

and those whom I do not know well but

who are having a hard time paying their bills

who are struggling with depression or anxiety

who feel alone, with laughter and joy far away

May we hold all of these in our hearts with love during this season of joy. 

“Joy and woe are woven fine, a clothing for the soul divine, under every grief and pine, runs a joy with silken twine.” William Blake