As I looked out the window of my condominium the other morning, I noticed a small white flower growing along the sidewalk. It wasn’t one that Margie planted, and I wondered how it came to be there. Then I looked up and saw a planter on the balcony of the condo above ours and saw more of the same plants. Evidently a seed from one of those flowers fell to the ground and began to bloom. I was struck by the beauty of this small blossom growing in a place where it had no business being and realized that this is what joy is like—a blossom in an otherwise lifeless place. It also reminded me of a passage from one of my favorite books, The Lord of the Rings. In the second book of that trilogy the two hobbits, Frodo and Sam, come across a statue of an ancient king, defiled by orcs. Frodo notices that flowers have grown up around the statue’s head: “A trailing plant with flowers like small white stars had bound itself across the brows as if in reverence for the fallen king, and in the crevices of his stony hair yellow stonecrop gleamed. ‘They cannot conquer forever!’ said Frodo.” Joy can be found in unexpected places if we allow ourselves to look for it.
Prayer: As we celebrate your birth, Lord Jesus, we see you as the hope of the world, our hope for tomorrow and the hereafter. Help us to see filaments of joy as we go through each day, for they are reflections of your grace. Come to us, abide with us, that we may have joy.
Steve and Margie have been members of Highland for forty years. Steve serves as the church clerk and is described in the official church history as the “resident Pharisee.” He is retired after 38 years of work in the Federal government. He and Margie are the parents of four sons and have seven grandchildren.