Joy Filled Lives
“I have told you this, so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”
--Jesus, as remembered by John in the gospels, chapter 15, verse 11
There is so much happening that can rob us of joy. In a hospital we treat sickness and disease in people who are experiencing joyless times. In this global village, we continue to hear the sad stories of the Middle East, a saga that is not just decades old, but actually centuries old.
Then there is this gospel word saying to us that complete joy, ecstasy if you will, is a possibility that is not just something for the mystic but a possibility for all who listen to the teachings of Jesus. Trying to picture that is almost unfathomable.
Henri Nouwen writes, “Somehow joy is much harder to express than sadness. It seems that we have more words for sickness than for health, more for abnormal conditions than for normal conditions.”
He continues, “those who live joy-filled lives are always moving away from rigidly fixed situations and exploring new, unmapped dimensions of reality. In other words, joy is always new. Whereas there can be old pain, old grief, and old sorrow, there can be no old joy. Old joy is not joy! Joy is always connected with movement, renewal, rebirth, change—in short, with life.” (Quotes are from Lifesigns, Henri Nouwen, pp. 85-88)
It’s mid-week!! I wish for you a day that has many moments of joy! May springtime be alive within you, filling you with joy, complete joy and contentment.
A prayer for today: God of joy, may I find you in new ways—small or great. Be before me, beneath me, over me, behind me, within me. In your name, Amen.
Ben Keckler
04.30.08
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