Today's Daily Lesson comes from Luke chapter 2 verse 18:
"And Mary kept all these words and pondered them in her heart."
In the Christian celebration Christmas is not a single day, but rather twelve. Christmas does not come and go, but stays with us. We live in Christmastime; and we keep Christmas the whole time through.
Mary kept all the words said about Jesus beyond the day of his birth. These were her reminders of the meaning and destiny of the child as she raised him up, watching him grow in wisdom and in stature. The words stayed with her through many a hard time when the family was in refuge. She kept the words, always pondering their meaning.
The Advent season brought us four words by flickering candlelight: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. These words stay with us through the Christmas season. This is why we keep the the advent candles burning. We keep the the candles lit because we keep the words in our hearts. We keep the candles lit because we keep the words alive.
The world will want to snuff out these lights. But we intend to keep them into the New Year. We plan to keep them. In 2017 we plan to hold our Hope, seek Peace -- and pursue it, bring Joy, and make Love whenever and wherever we can (within reason). The world will try to tamp these fledgling words out; but we will keep them in our hearts.
We keep the lights burning. We keep Hope alive. We keep Peace possible. We keep Joy abundant. And we keep on trying and trying again to learn to Love all.
We keep the lights burning in our hearts.
We keep Christmas.
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