Skip to main content

Pink Candles


            Who came up with the idea to add pink to Advent purple that already clashes with Christmas red and green?  You can search for yourself on the internet and realize that there are many views on the origins, but it is somehow related to the Catholic church and a Pope receiving a pink rose from a parishioner that gave him great joy—the focus of the third Sunday in Advent.  Whatever the reason, I prefer it when Advent Candles come with a pink one.  This year I had to search high and low for a pink tapered candle, and the one I ended up with is much shorter and wider than my slender purple ones. 

            I do like what the pink candle represents to me though.  It is the joy of this season.  As I told you not all churches treat Advent as they do Lent and focus on repentance.  Even if you are fasting and repenting in preparation for Christmas Day, you get to open your heart to joy on the third week of Advent as you light a pink candle. 

            Joy comes to all who open their hearts to hope and love.  A sign that you are focused on the presence of God in your life is that your soul will be full of joy in spite of your circumstances.  Joy is much loftier than happiness.  The Bible defines it as the state of awareness of God’s goodness in spite of whatever situation you may find yourself.    Psalm 16:11 says it best, You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.  When we light the pink candle, we acknowledge that we are half way to the great celebration of Christmas.  As our season of waiting nears the end it stirs a surge of joy in our souls. 

            If you are searching high and low for joy and find it hard to experience, become aware of God’s presence.  That is where you will find joy.  He is there all the time whether you are aware of Him or not.  Feel God’s presence as you touch the soft fur of your cat and consider how God made the creatures of the earth to teach us about love and commitment.  Enjoy God’s presence as you take in the unique taste of coffee on a cold December morning warming you from the inside out and delighting your taste buds.  Consider it all joy when you face any hardship knowing that God is right there with you, and He will never abandon you no matter how bad things get. 

            The third week of Advent is a perfect time to practice the presence of God by going on a scavenger hunt for joy.  Try to find joy while you stand the long line at the grocery store.  Use the time to consider God’s presence; see how He might lead you to discover joy by talking to a fellow customer or simply praying for the strangers you wait beside.  Maybe you will cheer on a young mother by taking a turn talking to her five-year-old for a moment of respite.  Perhaps you will be the only person the elderly woman will encounter in a personal conversation that day. 

            If you are missing joy this Advent season, you don’t have to look far to find it.  Just become aware of God’s presence and you will be led to joy.

            At the end of the third week of Advent consider how much joy has entered your life.  Maybe I will even find joy as I light my pink candle.  Rather than complaining that it is different and wondering why the set did not come with a pink one, I can delight in its uniqueness and be grateful that God can show me how to have joy about anything no matter how insignificant it may seem.  Joy is there for the experiencing.

Copyright © 2012.  Deborah R. Newman www.teatimeforyoursoul.com  All Rights Reserved.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thank You Dad

Recently I have been contemplating why it is ingrained in me that I must be quiet and respectful and look at the flag when the national anthem is played.  It’s as natural for me as standing for the Hallelujah Chorus during Handel’s Messiah or for the Bride when she walks through the back door.  Like a Pavlov dog, my instincts go into action, and I do not even think about my somewhat conditioned response. Why?  It was definitely my own father who had the most influence over me regarding the national anthem.  I am not a sports enthusiast.  However, from a young age I found myself at sports games because my older brother played every sport offered.  Our family faithfully attended those games, which normally started with the national anthem.  I found a way to enjoy the otherwise agonizing experience of being held prisoner to my brother’s sporting events by gravitating to my friends who were there under duress as well.  We made up games of our own; we would laugh and talk throughout the q…
Post a Comment
Read more

You Shall Not Be Overcome

I distinctly remember sending this quote by Julian of Norwich to a recently widowed friend of mine over ten years ago.  You will not be overcome.
God did not say you will not be troubled,
You will not be belaboured,
You will not be disquieted;
But God said, You will not be overcome. The quote in one of my devotional books for July 23, which marks the day I became a widow myself is by the same author.  “One day God spoke to me and I heard these words, “you won’t be overcome.”  God wants us to pay attention to His words.  God wants us to be strong in our certainty in Him, always, both in good times and in bad.  The Lord loves us, and God so enjoys our company.  God loves being with us and wants us to love Him and enjoy being with Him and trust Him completely, and all will be well.”  As I write this six years since his death I can attest to the reality that all will be well.  God chose to bless me with a second marriage to a wonderful man who holds my hand through this hur…
Post a Comment
Read more

The Worst

What is the worst thing you think could happen to you?  There are so many options in a fallen world that it is hard to consider the worst.  We try not to think about it.  We do think we are going through the worst thing when we lose a loved one, are betrayed by a friend or family, sent to prison, or become the victim of a crime.  You know the worst thing that has happened to you.  You can think of someone for whom you are grateful that what happened to that person didn’t happen to you.               The world is full of frightening and dreaded options of worst case scenarios.  When you read the Bible, it is not hard to decide what the worst thing that could happen in your lifetime would be.  The Bible makes it clear that the worst is that you do not believe in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and be saved.               That sounds like a Sunday School answer doesn’t it?  It doesn’t feel that bad to say “No Thank You” to God.  Many don’t even recognize the day that they to…
Post a Comment
Read more