Joy

Joy

The concept of joy means different things to people. I find joy in many things. We recently were gifted two more cats to share our house (with the one we were gifted last year). Our children are very generous when they gift lives of animals into our care. As much as I would love a pet-free house, I get great joy when one of the cats jumps into my lap. These moments are gifts that only pet lovers can appreciate. I love my pesky cats, and, love is the basis of all great joy. As Mother Teresa says, we must love to the point of folly.

We are thankful that our children and God have entrusted the lives of these family members into our care.

I am a sentimentalist when I think about other ways we are blessed with joy. Thanks to Linda, our back yard is filled with a great variety of birds; we also have squirrels, rabbits, and groundhogs, all sharing the birdfeed she places in the feeders.

When we travel around Virginia, we are overjoyed at the unbelievable scenery that Virginia offers; this scenery is also a gift from God that we can enjoy but only when we take the time to stop and let the beauty of God’s creation flow through our very beings. Unfortunately, mankind is systematically destroying this beauty when man overlooks the long-range necessities of a clean earth to bring forth short term luxuries, luxuries that we call necessities. We give up chances for our own spiritual growth, such as enjoying the beauty of God’s creations, we retard our progress as children of God.

I love being joyful, but I also love being a part of the beauty of God’s creation.

I guess that joy and love go hand in hand; t be joyful, we must love. To paraphrase a poem by Philip Britts, love (and joy) is clear, simple, quick to ease our pain, and slow to leave our sides. Love is gratitude; love is faithful; love is patience and kindness; and, love brings us peace. What I mean by peace is inner peace. I look at the state of our society, and I am fearful; but, because I have peace within me, because I have love and joy within me, my fear is lessened. I know that I am walking on the path that God has laid before me.

This gives me the greatest peace and the greatest joy. It is not how much we love or how much joy we have; what matters is the fact that we practice these. Love and joy sustains our life, every day. We are created by God for God; we experience our greatest joy when we live these truths.