Luke 1:39-45

It’s okay to feel joy.

The headlines are what they are, and the political climate is…typical. Sickness, violence, and loss are always present. Events of the last few years seem to have magnified our sense of danger and loss, and the media certainly never lets us forget that tragedy abounds. Sometimes the heartache is closer to home, and it can feel wrong to allow ourselves to feel joy when there’s so much going sideways all around us and in us.

Right after hearing from the angel, Mary hurried to see her cousin, Elizabeth. From a human standpoint the circumstances surrounding Mary’s pregnancy weren’t ideal. Poverty, Roman occupation, not to mention all the ways she could and would be shamed for the situation she was in.  The angel’s announcement threw her personal life into turmoil, but what Good News she carried! Certainly the joy over her pregnancy was tempered by feelings of fear of the unknown. Was that an expression of faithlessness or doubt, or can joy sometimes be accompanied by tears of sadness or grief?

Mary was neither faithless nor full of doubt, but she was human, living in a broken world. Elizabeth’s blessing gave Mary permission to feel joy for the Messiah she carried and a safe place to take in all that was happening during the first stages of her pregnancy. 

We, too, carry Good News in a broken world!

You and I have permission to feel Joy – to let it soak in and saturate the deepest parts of us. It’s okay to feel it, express it, and let it take root in our hearts! Joy came to stay that first Christmas, and that’s something we can feel safe in no matter our circumstances.

Thank you, God, for Joy! Help us to see it, feel it, and live it today. Amen.