Luke 21:34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap.”
Jesus was warning about a very specific incident, the Roman destruction of Judea around 70 A.D. but there might be a lesson here for us in the 21st century as well. Back in the 70’s Joni Mitchell had a song on her Court and Spark Album titled Peoples Parties. She sings about the various things that get expressed at parties and her own feelings at the time. Here is a link if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLoKSS1P2No. I find it interesting that carousing and drunkenness are said in the verse above to weigh down your heart in the same way as the anxieties of life. There is a lot of partying and drinking during the holidays. My guess is that some of it is an expression of the joy of all that Christmas means. I also guess that some of it is a desperate attempt to escape the fact that the holidays aren’t living up to some grand expectation conjured from movies and commercials. “Be careful” the verse says. This Advent, in what ways do you need to “be careful?” May the birth of Christ move us beyond the weight of carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life.
Logan Memorial Presbyterian Church 