Celebrate Life

Life truly is an unfolding tapestry. It is a tapestry woven with the threads of joy and sorrow. Some threads are dark. Sometimes they are so dark you would like to hide them and forget them all together. Other threads are bright with celebration. We like to tell their story.
In the celebration of the beginning of my ministry 40 years ago, I had the privilege of looking back over the tapestry of that time. In that reflecting, I have come to a deeper appreciation for the value of such celebrations of God's gifts to us.
In visiting with a friend who was unable to attend, I commented on the glow that I still felt days after the event. I thanked him for his interest, even though the distance made it impossible for him to be there.
"You should feel a glow." he said, "It's the same kind of experience the Disciples felt after Jesus’ transfiguration. Any big celebration should leave us feeling that way. God's spirit is present. And where God is, there is a glow."
My friend is correct about God's presence in our lives’ unfolding tapestry. I'm flattered by his comparing my 40th anniversary celebration with the transfiguration. I understand the dangers of pushing those parallels very far. The glory of the transfiguration far overshadows my personal experiences. I'm not in that league.
God is present in our celebrations, however.
Could it be that we, in our American culture have lost something important when we dismiss celebrations as a waste of time?
Celebrations are the times in which we meet God, present among our friends. They give us a new perspective on the tapestry of life. Through them, we find meaning and depth that is only possible in the glow, which follows.
Think about the celebrations of your life. Some are celebrations of transitions: weddings, graduations, funerals, arrival of the new baby, baptisms, and major decision points in our lives. Others are seasonal celebrations: Easter, the sparkle of anticipation in the eyes of a four-year-old child on Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, even New Year's, and Labor Day.
Do you look for the glow of God's presence in the celebrations of your life? God is present everywhere, the glow will be there. We see the pattern of threads in life’s tapestry from a greater perspective than is possible at any other time.
May the celebrations of your life reveal to you the beauty of the tapestry of life, which is God's gift to you.