Church in the Windshield
Third
Sunday of Advent
December 16,
2018
It’s the third Sunday in Advent and many
churches are lighting the JOY candle which is most often a pink candle. Why
pink you ask? When parents are planning the birth of a child, they often will
paint the baby’s room pink or blue to express the joy of the planned new birth.
It’s very close to the time and we expect the birth of Jesus soon. We have only another week of waiting you know;
such excitement, such anticipation and such expectation. The Christian world
will celebrate the birth of the Christ child. He will be born and placed in a
manger in Bethlehem. We celebrate that as well even though 2000 plus years,
have passed, one by one and we rejoice.
Philippians 4:4-7 New International Version (NIV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let
your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not
be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of
God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds
in Christ Jesus.
Sheron and I think about the joys that we
have experienced this year and this Advent.
One of the joys this year has been all of the new friends that we
met. Our extended church family expanded
from one church to many churches and we wonder why we didn’t start “Seeing the
Church in the Windshield” years ago. “God is good all the time . . . All the
time God is good,” What Joy! We serve an “Awesome God.”
Another Advent Joy came Sunday afternoon
(December 16) when we attended the CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL at the Stiefel Theatre (old
Fox Theater, now remodeled and updated) in Salina. We got there early as we
always do; presented our tickets and made our way to the balcony. With an
usher’s help we found our seats, mid-section, half way to the top (there are no
bad seats in Stiefel Theatre).
As we waited for the performance to begin, we
enjoyed watching the great multi-faceted, multi-layered chandelier (estimated
20 foot in diameter) change colors. It sequentially faded and changed from red
to blue, to green, to white. Though we were high up in the balcony, the
chandelier was way above us, centered in the theater, well out of balcony
reach. In true form, Sheron and I
pondered, how you would get up there to clean that thing.
The CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL was presented by the
Salina Symphony in conjunction with Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina Chorale,
Salina Community Theatre and the Tamara Howe School of Dance. Dr. Ken Hakoda
did an absolutely marvelous job directing the symphony. Never have I heard such
beautiful music, watched such great choreography heavenly I must say.
For an hour and a half, the orchestra played;
adult and youth choirs sang . . . youth danced. It was such a good mix of both religious and
secular music. I thought of all the God given talent in the two hundred plus
cast . . . surely God was in this place.
How could one not feel the joy of this Christmas season . . . this
Advent Sunday?
During the course of the program, the youth
did tap-dance and ballet. I tried to imagine what it would feel like to dance
on my toes like that . . . ouch! Then I got this image . . . elephants don’t ballet, especially old ones
and I chuckled, so true. Well the program came to an end but the music is still
felt within my soul.
Finally, we leave you this beautiful Kansas
sunset picture of God’s joy in this Advent. Only God could paint such a
picture.
Until next time, keep the joy of music within
your hearts, step in time to the pulse of life and enjoy the sunsets!
Ron & Sheron, drivers behind the
windshield
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