Joy

"Joy is anticipation of God's love. Without hope in God, we close ourselves to joy."

"The difference between joy and happiness is that joy is a transcendence of spirit in the experience of God's love, whereas happiness is a more immanent response to a conducive environment. One is life changing, the other remains fickle."

As I have been thinking a lot about suffering and joy, how they can go hand in hand for us who are in Jesus, I came across these words in a book by James Houston titled Joyful Exiles. I've been waking up each day quoting these words, "Joy is anticipating God's love for me (today)." I want to live each day, no matter what the circumstance is, anticipating God's love. Why anticipate anything else? All other things that we anticipate and hope in, they are all fleeting. They will one day be no more here in this life. But His love, it remains with us forever, wherever we are, especially in times of disappointment, pain, and suffering. His love holds us. It is not just knowing that His love is available, but living with an anticipation that it will cover me, it is the secret to joy.... Isn't this what makes our belief different from all others? We can live and "die" anticipating the love of God for today, tomorrow, and forever. For even after death, we will live forever in His presence where there is fullness of joy. As the Psalmist said, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." (Ps. 23:6) Let me live in anticipation of your love, O God....

Simple Stillness

I spent a lot of my time gazing out the windows in my hotel room while recovering from who knows what. I felt like writing a poem this morning. I'm not much of a poet but, I thought why not? (Unfortunately, I can't seem to get this blog to reflect the formatting of the poem.)

Simple stillness

Gazing out,
still roofs,
swaying palm trees,
unmovable hills,
muddy bay,

Looking beyond,
distance,
transfixed,
the horizon,

In company with other gazers,
happily lost,
in the moment
of serenity,
thoughts on a journey,
near,
and far,

Noise outside,
drowned out,
gentle quietness,
of my heart,
mind,
soul.

Simple stillness

"If" by Rudyard Kipling

Before starting the IVF cycle, we had decided that we would do another round if it failed. We knew it would be harder to make that kind of decision after a failure. This morning I was sharing with Paul my "doubts" about doing another round of IVF, especially as there is no guarantee that it will be successful and whether it will be worth the expense. He quoted a few words from this poem (highlighted in green) that he remembered. I liked it so much that I had to look up the whole poem. I loved it....beautiful, wise, inspiring, and challenging.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son! (or a Woman my daughter!--my edition!)

Nuggets of Wisdom

Two nuggets of wisdom/prayer that are profound yet so practical which have been speaking to me recently:

"Pray as if everything depends on God,
act as if everything depends on us."
Ignatius of Loyola

"God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."
Reinhold Niebuhr