Friday, March 16, 2018
JOY
Hi There !
So, how do you do your dishes?
Hope it's with Joy -
not necessarily the detergent, Joy,
but certainly with the spirit of joy.
Joy is to the spirit
as health is to the body,
as happiness is to the emotions -
the result of being right and real.
Things are right as they are meant to be,
properly in place,
harmonized in foundational reality.
When they are not,
the body experiences dis-ease,
the emotions un-happiness,
the spirit dis-stressed dis-quiet.
Conversely, when things are right and real,
the body is healthy,
the emotions are happy,
the spirit is serene.
Happiness and joy are not the same thing.
Happiness is how we feel emotionally.
Joy is how we are at our core
when we really are there,
rooted real and right in God.
Actually, we can be unhappy
and yet joyful at the same time.
Please permit a personal example
of what on the surface
seems to be different than it is.
As a young man
I went through a period
of vocational confusion
and left the seminary.
Back in those so different days,
the 1950's,
that was just this side of a mortal sin.
I was socially suspect,
a failed soul.
On the train home
I was not a happy camper,
yet there was a steadiness of soul,
a rightness down deep,
a joy of spirit.
As emotionally and socially uncomfortable
as things were,
at my core they were real and right,
rooted in God.
They were what they needed to be
at that moment in my evolving spirit.
That was quite a grace and learning.
Joy is a serene steadiness and strength of spirit.
Joy is a zest and exuberance of spirit.
Joy flows from being rooted right and real in
Being Itself, in Reality Itself, in Existence Itself,
in the Limitless Life and Love Energy
that is God.
"Joy is the infallible sign of God's presence,"
( Leon Bloy in a letter to Jacques Maritain ),
and our presence
rooted real and right in God.
Like all else in the spiritual life,
it comes down to being
as and who and where
we actually and really are -
a being in Being,
a spirit centered in The Source,
endlessly evolving
in The Mystery of God,
in The Mystery of Love/Life.
Our spiritual lives are
a waking up to that,
embracing that,
living that,
and no matter how things are
with the body and emotions,
being exuberantly joyful.
We may or may not like doing the dishes,
but we can always do them
and everything else in life with
JOY.
***************************
After Thought
Metaphor is the only way
to stammer about the divine.
Here's a simple, plain metaphor
for our spirituality out here
on the street of everyday life.
Consider an engine -
told you the metaphor was
plain and simple!!
When all the parts and processes
of an engine
are arranged right and real,
rooted in the reality
of what an engine
is all about,
the engine hums and purses.
Joy is like the hummimg and purring
of an engine.
(Not sure that even Charles Wesley
could work that one into a hymn!!).
******************************************************************************
HOLY WEEK
Next week 's posting here will be both an
INVITATION
and
RESOURCES
for
A HOLY WEEK RETREAT
on
SOLITUDE.
Materials, considerations,
and meditation prompts
will be presented
for a daily time of solitude,
prayer and reflection,
for the entire week.
The posting is not crafted
for a quick or one time exposure.
In other words, it will be
an extensive presentation to be used
part by part for the seven days of Holy Week.
*********************************************************************************
Thanks for the blessing of your company.
See you next week.
Oh yes !
If you have time and interest,
there are all sorts of prompts
for prayer and reflection
in this season of lent
offered the Meditation Markers that follow.
Holding each and all in
God's Dear Love,
John Frank
****************************************
MEDITATION MARKERS
Suggestions:
- find a time and place
where you can separate
from the clamor and stimulation of noise
around you and within you
"Be still and know that I am God."
(Psalm 46:10)
- breath slowly, gently, deeply
- just be still in The Still Point.
- in a leisurely manner
start with the first
Meditation Marker.
- if it connects,
say it to yourself
a time or two.
- just sit with it,
let it speak its truth to your spirit.
- if that does not happen,
just move on to the next few
until one does connect.
- consider one or two a day
- do your best not to feel rushed,
or compelled to
"cover them all."
*****
- "The joy of the Lord is your strength."
Nehemiah 8:10
- In joy we
- live simply
- behave humbly
- dress modestly
- pray freely
- think wisely
- worship communally
- act kindly
- smile honestly
- speak trustfully
- love sincerely
- champion justice
- cherish nature
- companion the needful
Adaptation of a piece
from an unknown author
- "...joy is a key indicator of a healthy spirituality.
Joy, in the classic sense, is not a synonym for
happiness, but instead refers to a zest for life.
You can have an underlying zest for life
whether you are happy or whether you are sad.
The opposite of joy is not sorrow,
the opposite of joy is apathy.
01-14-11 (new-wood.blogspot.com)
David Backes
- "Let your joy be in your journey -
not in some distant goal."
Tim Cook
- "If you carry joy in your heart,
you can heal any moment."
Carlos Santana
- "I define joy as a sustained sense
of well being and internal peace -
a connection to what matters"
Oprah Winfrey
- " The prospect of the righteous is joy..."
Proverbs 10:28
- "These things I have spoken to you,
that my joy may be in you,
and that your joy may be full."
Jesus
( John 15:11 )
- "You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy."
Psalm 16:11
- "For the Kingdom of God
is not a matter of eating and drinking,
but of righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Spirit."
Romans 14:17
*****
