Is there anyone who doesn’t know the Christmas Carol standard Joy to The World? It’s one of the first carols that comes to mind when its time for our favorite Christmas traditions. As a couple there are lots of Christmas traditions that typically define the season. The company holiday party is that time when you dress up to see all of your wife’s coworkers, she complains about to you every day. Then there’s the annual trip to the mall when you take the kids to stand in line with Bay Bay’s kids to take a picture with Santa who just moments ago polished off a bottle of Mad Dog 20 20. While at the mall you happen by the toy store filled with screaming children that your equally sugar hyped kids are begging you to let them join in for 30 minutes of bedlam giving you time to overspend on toys that will last 36 hours before broken. Talk about Joy to The World! But if we’ve learned anything from 2020, we’ve learned that this is the year of New Normal, Unprecedented Times, and Now More Than Ever. In fact, as we prepare to celebrate this holiday the song of Joy for 2020 instead of Joy to The World should probably be This Joy I Have, The World Didn’t Give, The World Can’t Take It Away.
For many couples 2020 has simplified our lives. Husbands and Wives have been sheltered in place since mid-May. That has led to daily walks together, exercise together, binge watching together, virtual game nights together and even virtual worship service together. In fact, while so much of our existence as a couple has formerly been shaped by the outside world, 2020 helped many of us to focus on us. In 2020 many couples actually discovered themselves! Midway through the pandemic my wife and I decided one Friday night around 8:00 to start watching a new drama on one of the streaming channels. We thought there were only 4 episodes and after watching 2 in a row we thought let’s keep watching. Little did we know there were actually 10 episodes and we finished binge watching around 3:00 Saturday morning. Not to worry, we couldn’t go anyplace Saturday because there weren’t any places that were open. Countless wives and husbands rediscovered the person to whom they said I Do years ago and realized that they really like each other. The fact is after 9 or 10 months of sheltering in place some might be celebrating a different birth this Christmas. Look for a number of Corona/Covid babies celebrating lots of unanticipated togetherness.
So, while may are lamenting what 2020 has been many couples are celebrating a recognition of what brought us together to begin with. Joy to The World? Maybe just this year we really will realize This JOY I Have, The World Didn’t Give It, The World Can’t Take It Away! Find some mistletoe and celebrate the one you love!
Mike Watkins Atlanta, GA