Advent: Joy & Christmas & Sadness
There are a few things in this world that have been marketed incredibly well.
The Eiffel Tower. It is just a big lamppost with a great publicist.
The Mona Lisa. Sorry, I don’t get it.
The Happy Birthday Song. This is the best we can do?
Tea. This one is personal. I just think tea is gross.
Christmas.
Christmas is marketed as the most wonderful time of year. A celebratory season of joy and wholeness and warmth. One where everything is made better with a cup of hot chocolate, singing ‘Silent Night’ by candlelight, the perfect gift, and a partridge in a pear tree
But is it the most wonderful time of year?
Look around.
You’ll see those who are exhausted.
You’ll see those who are grieving.
You’ll see those who are searching.
You’ll see those who are lonely.
You’ll see those who are overwhelmed.
You’ll see those who are struggling.
You’ll see those who are depressed.
The weight of living doesn’t stop for Christmas.
If anything, it strengthens the way we are already feeling.
This week in his Substack, my friend Andy beautifully reminds us that this coming Sunday we will light the pink candle for Advent.
It is the candle of joy.
But if we are honest, Christmas doesn’t always feel like the season of joy.
There is a sadness that comes with this time of year.
But know this: we do not have to force ourselves to be joyful.
We do not have to choose joy or be merry and bright.
We can walk through Advent however the season finds us.
Christmas is a big table and there is enough room for joy and sadness to sit together.
The first Christmas was not what we have made Christmas out to be.
On the first Christmas one thing happened that we continue to remember: Hope arrives.
Whether you are feeling joyful or sad, broken or whole, Hope arrives.
Hope comes to us no matter how we feel and Hope does not come to us to change how we feel.
Hope does not demand we be joyful, but comes to us because that’s what Hope does.
It shows up.
Hope enters the world with the promise that one day everything is going to be okay.
This Sunday, as the pink candle lights up the darkness, let it be a reminder that this is foreshadowing of what will one day be.
The darkness will be extinguished by the Light and we will gather in the glow of unending Joy.
Until then, we continue forward trusting the One who has come and will come again.
About the Author
Tanner Olson is an author, poet, speaker, and podcaster living in Nashville, Tennessee.
He is the author of I’m All Over the Place, As You Go, Walk A Little Slower, and Continue: Poems and Prayers of Hope.
You can find Tanner Olson’s books on Amazon.
His podcast is The Walk A Little Slower Podcast with Tanner Olson and can be found wherever you listen to podcasts.
Tanner Olson travels around the country sharing poetry, telling stories, and delivering messages of hope.
You can follow Tanner Olson on Instagram (@writtentospeak) and Facebook where you’ll daily find encouraging words of faith and hope.
