Let your love shine

I believe you can’t best feel your love until you let your love shine.

2021 Light The World Calendar
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It’s time once again to light the world through the Church’s annual Light the World tradition.  This year the Church has named their celebration Light the World with Love.  I love that new name.

But I also love how this tradition encourages the Christmas spirit by living it through small, simple actions.  In past years, Joy in the Journey Radio has encouraged general participation.  This year, each December broadcast will focus on the specific action from the Light the World with Love calendar for the day of the broadcast.

The suggested action for today carries the title “Let Your Love Shine” and encourages tagging three loved ones with a “top 3 things I love about you” message and invitation to do likewise.  The three I wish to highlight don’t use social media, but I’ll highlight them all the same because I believe you can’t best feel your love until you let your love shine.

The cat comes first

First on my list is my cat Tashi.  She died about eight years ago as unexpectedly as she’s impacted my life since.

Last weekend while speaking with a friend grieving the recent death of her cat, I shared how I still feel Tashi with me, even though she hasn’t been with me physically for over eight years.  That’s the first thing I love about Tashi.  Our relationship was so strong I still feel her with me despite her death.  Hearing my experience seemed to comfort my friend, suggesting perhaps she too could experience something similar.

Tashi knew how to comfort me.  She’d waltz into my lap as I sat discouraged, seat herself against me, and then look up at me as though saying, “How can you be sad when I’m here?”  It amazes me she never failed to do that when I needed it.

And she was such a character.  I remember one Christmas when she chose her stocking for the fireplace that year.  It’s a humorous story I’ll detail later in the program.

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Next comes my mother

My mother’s the second of my top three.  I’ve spoken about her before, most recently when I surprised her for her birthday.  Her condition has since worsened, but my love for her hasn’t.

My mother always thought constantly of her children.  Every day she worked hard for our benefit.  I remember one morning thinking I could delay my usual departure for the school bus.  My mother called out a reminder to get going.  But I delayed, missed the bus, and walked back in shame to confront my mother.  Predictably upset, she still drove me to school.

I love how that support was constant.  Years later I was preparing to return to campus after the holidays to finish my master’s program.  Just before I left, my mother and I knelt in prayer.  I still remember her prayer for me, and it was the memory of that prayer that gave me the strength I needed to finish my program.  She’s always supported me through the years.

And I love that my mother taught me life skills, especially cooking.  I can’t list all the times having that knowledge has helped me, but I can list teaching me how to cook among the many ways she’s blessed my life.

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Then comes Uncle Darryl

Then there’s Uncle Darryl.  He’s actually my great great uncle.  I never knew him well, but he’s had a profound influence on me.

I love that influence, especially the respect it engenders for veterans.  Uncle Darryl’s WWII experience left him so traumatized he couldn’t talk about some things for the rest of his life.  His sacrifice in defense of freedom lasted some 65 years.

I also loved his welcoming nature.  I could always come by unannounced, and he’d stop and entertain my visit.  What an example of gifting love through attention!  And he always seemed sincerely interested in me, even towards the end as his faculties slipped.

I won’t be tagging anyone since none of these three loved ones use social media.  But I love them each.  And I love the Lord Who blessed me with love from them and many others.  Letting my love shine for them today is a small gift I can give in return.

If you haven’t given that small gift today to three loved ones in your life, take a moment now and let your love shine.  You’ll feel more of the essence of the Christmas season.  You’ll invite others to embrace that spirit in following the Lord Whose expressions of love provide the reason for the season.  And that will bring you more joy in your journey.

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