#AdventWord #Rejoice

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers two definitions for the word ‘rejoice’. We mostly live in the first one: to feel joy or great delight. But it also offers another definition for rejoice that we don’t often consider. Rejoice can also mean to give joy to, to gladden. In this use, it’s a transitive verb. What that means is that the verb has a direct object. It seems to me that this is the definition Jesus embodies. He comes to be among us, born in a lowly stable, to give joy to us. To gladden our hearts. To be love incarnate, love made flesh. We are the object of his gift of joy.

This is us, rejoicing that we’ve made it to the summit of Xiaobajianshan 小霸尖山: 3,418 m / 11,214 ft, July 23, 2020. And the weather was perfect!