Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Joy and a Flash Mob

Have you heard about flash mobs?   They are organized through online networks and text messages.  There have been many reports of flash mobs showing up and singing this Christmas season. A friend sent me a video of a group singing the Hallelujah Chorus" of Handel's Messiah in a mall.   Shoppers, stunned to hear the "carolers,"  stopped, smiled, and joined in.
An experience of shared joy is rare. 
It makes the joy of the first Christmas a little bit more understandable.  The sky was filled . . . with a flash mob of sorts . . . angels to be exact . . . singing about the birth of Jesus.
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified,  but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,  “Glory to God in highest heaven,
      and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” (Luke 2: 8-14, NLT). 
Imagine what the experience described in Luke 2 would have been like.  One night, while you are  focused on what you have to do, the skies light up with an angel announcing the birth of the Savior.  But it doesn't stop there . . . angels fill the skies . . . and they sing.  Nothing would ever be the same again.  You not only received great news but shared joy with heaven.
 Joy.  
Joy is easy to miss in this world.  We get so concerned with ourselves, circumstances, and the state of the world that we forget what is most important.  Christ came.  Immanuel.  God with us.  Joy.

Share joy with heaven today.
Refuse to be stuck in the stuff and stress of living.
Focus on Christ.  Emmanuel. God with us.

Learning to KickStart the day sharing the joy of Christ,
Kerrie

(written by Kerrie L. Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)