A Newspaper Boy's Advent:Love

“Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” (1 John 3:18) Besides many retail stores on newspaper route number one, I had a few residents at the end of my route.  There were a few customers that were more memorable than others. One such customer was elderly man who had difficulty walking and was on oxygen from time to time. I remember this man who would wait expectantly for his afternoon newspaper and was so happy when he could open it up at the end of the day and review the news since his last delivery.  It was a warm feeling to see the twinkle in his eyes, sitting on his porch waiting for his newspaper. Many years later it occurred to me why this simple act of receiving the newspaper was really an act of love. I was the newspaper boy responsible for delivering the newspaper – the daily news and for this dear man, I was a messenger of God’s love. 

What is love? Love is a relationship. Whether it is a family member, a friend, a sibling, a spouse, it is a relationship. Love is the dependable paper boy who could be counted on each day to be a messenger of love. It wasn’t the news, the newspaper, the time of day that was so meaningful and what the elderly man was looking for, it was my relationship with him.  I remember spending several minutes each day talking to my elderly customer. I remember this man as not having family and he didn’t get out much. His neighborhood was pretty limited. There was a Convent, a school, and a Catholic Church and so I and the mailman were sometimes the only the human faces that this elderly man saw in many days – we represented something fundamentally human – a meaningful and dependable relationship – love in action. “Little children, let us love…in truth and action.” This is love. 

This is the fourth week on the journey toward Christmas morning. It is the week of love. Late this evening, in the early hours of Christmas morning a child, the son of a loving, living God will be born amongst us. This night shows us a God that is more than a spiritual presence in our midst. This night is about a God that is incarnational. It is about love in action.  It came upon the midnight clear and the world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing – to sing a song about the love that is born this night, love not in word or speech, but love in truth and action.

Just as the elderly man waiting for news from the world comes to its fulfillment in delivery of the afternoon newspaper, so does our wait for God’s incarnational and unconditional love come to its fulfillment in a drafty stable, on a cold night when all the world is hushed and waiting for the song the angels sing, “Fear not, I bring you good news…”  This is love in truth and action. 

Prayer:   

God you are love and love is what we celebrate this night. Help us, O God, to see our lives as more than random and isolated events that have no connection to one another. Help us, O God, to be the incarnational love that brought you to earth in baby Jesus. Help us to love, not in words or speech, but in truth and action and may the gift we bring tonight and every day be pleasing to you. Amen.

A Newspaper Boy's Advent: Peace

A Paper Boy’s Advent: Peace

It was long before Mp3 players, iPods, and Walkmans that I delivered papers to retail stores throughout the downtown and I remember the excitement I felt when delivering papers to the retail stores at Christmas time.  Going into the stores, listening to the taped music piping through the sound system quickened a young boy’s Christmas spirit and brought joy and a quiet peace that blessed a paper boy delivering his newspapers along paper route number one. 

The familiar songs of Christmas bring a peace that feeds my spirit in a time that has become more harried and stressful in recent years. I enjoy listening to the familiar, beloved Christmas songs that have been a part of my life from the days of hanging tinsel on the branches of the family Christmas tree. Whether it’s Frosty the Snowman, Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire or Hark the Herald Angels Sing, the music of Christmas brings me peace – peace that gave me joy along route number one or a quiet peace that blesses my daily life today.

The candle of peace is the second candle of the Advent season and one that not only speaks to what we would hope for all human kind in all the nations of our fragile world, but it is also what we pray for our own spirits. Peace like the gentle falling snow on cold December night or the quiet, peaceful music streaming throughout a retail stores is God’s gift to us in this season – this season of waiting, hoping and anticipating. May our spirits be filled with peace in this season and may the music of Christmas be the medium in which the angels of God bring us daily blessings.

Prayer

Even in the midst of crazy holiday schedules, harried family members, tinsel, and Christmas music, may we find the peace we seek and the simple joys of everyday tasks whether it is delivering papers, preparing food for the family, or preparing our hearts for the birth of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

A Newspaper boy's Advent:Joy

There is an Easter hymn that I like very much. It is called, “There will be Joy in the Morning.” Although the specific arrangement has been sung by many church choirs over the years at Easter time, it is also a message for this season of Advent. The chorus builds with the words, “There will be joy! There will be joy in the morning on that day. There will be joy, joy, joy in the morning on that day!” Joy is a wonderful expression for the season Advent too. 

As I recall my newspaper route in the retail section of a medium size town, I remember what joy looked like to a newspaper boy at Christmas time. Joy looked like the Christmas decorations hung beautifully from telephone poles and across telephone wires that lined the streets of downtown. Joy looked like the chocolate bag of candy that the clerks at J.C. Penny’s offered to me at Christmas time. The bustling, busy shoppers loaded down with packages and bows looked like joy to me. The first crunchy, tasty bite into a steaming Coney Dog smothered in onions at a storefront restaurant and the Christmas punch and cookies at the fire-house filled my heart with joy. Oh yes, the warm, welcoming smile of the owners at Gustafson’s Paint store – so warm and friendly that you thought you were visiting you grandmother looked like joy to me. The narrow, ancient steps leading up to the Odd Fellows club and the smoke filled room, the clink of billiard balls, and 25 cents for a bottle of Coke looked like joy to a paper boy at Christmas time.  This is joy – joy, joy, joy in the morning on that day! 

What does joy look like to you?  The Christmas story is a story of mystery, a story of joy, and story of promise. Mary was surely surprised about the news she received from an angelic newspaper boy named Gabriel. Once the shock wore off and she began to process this recent news, joy looked like a song to her and with a heart of gratitude and soul of grace. “And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.” (Luke 1:46-48) This is joy! This is Advent.

Prayer:

God, you fill our hearts with joy at this time of year. You are joy to us! God, in your mercy, may the eyes of our hearts and the voice of our soul, like Mary, sing praises to you – praises of joy and may we see the joy of everyday as one more surprise from the one who gives us life. Amen.