Reflection
Life is not meant to be dismal. Life is not an endurance test. Life is life if we make it that. How do we know for sure that life is meant to be an excursion into joy? Because there is simply too much to enjoy…Religious traditions that refuse to enjoy life, reject life. But religion that rejects life is no religion at all. It fails to connect the sacred now with the sacred beyond. To become a contemplative we must bring ourselves to life so that all life can mediate God to us.
Joan Chittister
Prayer
Worship God with gladness,
Come before God, singing with joy.
Psalm 100
Action
Consider all the elements of life that are there to be enjoyed. Focus on what is beautiful and life giving. Work to free yourself of any concepts that prevent you from relating to the goodness and nourishment of creation. Appreciate all those who bring you happiness. Live gratefully.
Suggested Reading
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! … Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Phillipians 4:4
This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it
Psalm 118:24
It is joy that Christians breath. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. The one who puts joy in our hearts is the Holy Spirit.
Pope Francis
Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love. She gives most who gives with joy.
Mother Teresa
Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain. –
Joseph Campbell
Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… It’s your responsibility to love it, or change it.
Chuck Palahniuk
Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.
Emily Dickinson
To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.
Mark Twain
Joy blooms where minds and hearts are open.
Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Joy is not in things; it is in us.
Richard Wagner