God told Job that at the creation of the world "the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy."

“Joy” – says Teilhard de Chardin,  “is the most conclusive evidence of the presence of God."

Some days our lives are shot through with shafts of the most intense and unexpected joy.

Lots of experiences in life bring us joy: - the taste of a great meal in the company of friends, time alone in the sport or pursuit we love, our work – especially when our sense of vocation is in sync with the ‘job’ that pays us and provides for our families.

The joy of a symphony, a solo, a song; the joy when a poem or a picture takes us away or helps us more profoundly to pay attention - attention to life, to its ups and downs, its sorrows and pain, its realities and rewards.

We pay attention to joy.

The carols do that for me. They help me to pay attention to the Great News – the Story and the Message of Christmas.

Joy to the world, the Lord has come –
Let earth receive her king;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing.

I suppose that all of the experiences that bring us joy – all of the friends, the pursuits, the vocations – all of it added up, reveal the deep and lasting love and concern, the promises and provisions of God Who in Christ has come to make all things right, to make us new – bringing us back to His fatherly arms and the mothering coo of His Voice.