“Joy is prayer; joy is strength; joy is love; joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.”

–Mother Teresa

As today is Christmas Eve, and being with family and friends is far more important than hanging out with me on your screen device, this will be a short post.

It’s Christmas–the season for decorations, parties, songs, pageants, and gifts. All of that brings most of us happiness. Some folks, unfortunately, are in a season of pain, not happiness. Maybe it’s grief, a job loss, a life transition, or a bad medical diagnosis.

If you’ve experienced any of those things acutely at Christmas, you get it. If you know someone going through something, give them some grace and understanding.

But for most of us, Christmas is a time of happiness. And we all need that, don’t we? Especially in this day of division and anger stoked by the extreme influences of those far to the left and far to the right, and the media that focus on them.

But what about joy? It’s the same thing as happiness, you might say. No, there’s a difference, and it’s profound.

Happiness is a superficial emotion, typically fleeting and related to immediate circumstances. It can change on a dime as those circumstances change. Enjoy it while you have it, and look for it when you don’t.

But joy? Joy is a far deeper emotion, often tied to matters of the heart, or to something bigger than one’s self-interest. It has staying power. So, where’s the joy in Christmas?

For believers–those who profess Christ as their Lord and Savior–the joy of Christmas is the knowledge that we’re celebrating the arrival of God incarnate–Immanuel, or God with us. Fully human and fully divine, although many didn’t recognize His divinity.

He lived on Earth for only thirty-three years as Jesus, who taught and preached the good news of salvation, and then died a horrible death, only to rise three days later as the long-promised Christ.

That is what we believe. That is the joy of Christmas, and it’s an emotion that can sustain us even when, due to exigent circumstances, we’re not feeling the happiness of the season. (If that’s you, hang in there, please.)

Celebrate that truth, and make a joyful noise unto the Lord … not just at Christmas, but all the year through.

May you and yours capture the peace and joy of Christmas!