Every night I go to bed in the same room. I sometimes lay down on the bed during the daytime, too. It is a very familiar space that I see daily. And the decor hasn’t changed in years. Yet recently as I was laying on the bed, I noticed that a sign on the door and a poster of a painting just outside the door have the same color scheme. It’s uncanny, actually, especially when you know that the sign on the door was made by the resident advisor of my son’s college dorm his freshman year and the poster is Van Gogh’s Cafe Terrace. These two images have no relationship to each other (except physical proximity in our home) and yet I have just noticed that the colors are remarkably similar. I mentioned this observation to my son, the artist. He said that he had never noticed the similar color scheme either. That was another surprise since he is supremely visually observant.
Here is something I am exposed to every day, the proverbial wallpaper of my life, and I only just noticed this glaring connection. As we think of the Advent/Christmas theme “Glad tidings of great joy to ALL people” I am wondering if there are glad tidings around us each and every day that we just have not yet noticed? I suspect that there are, and I would venture that they are many. This is a season to notice. To pay attention. To reflect. To see those glad tidings that are a regular part of our lives day in and day out and that may have become so familiar that we don’t see them. I invite you to think about the glad tidings that are close at hand in your life.
Prayer: In this Advent season while we may be looking for a star in the distance, we may miss the glad tidings that are close at hand, perhaps as near as the smile of a loved one or colleague or neighbor. God is nearer than we think. May we not miss the glad tidings of God’s love each and every day. Amen.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 