The gift of joy and abundant life

The best thing to write in January is joy. Because it's often a joyless month for we shivering, light-deprived northerners. I think the Florida grands had an inkling. Yesterday I received a “Book of Blessings,” filled with inspiring photos and quotes. One chapter is devoted to joy. 

I liked this prayer: "Father, this morning I woke up, and the gift of life was still within me. What a privilege! I don't want to lose the wonder of it for even one day. So help me to live with purpose and joy, not waiting for what today might bring me, but rather looking for opportunities to be and do all that you've created me for. And, most of all, thank you for being with me in each moment, showing me the way of abundant living."

Here's another: Blessed are you who know how to celebrate the goodness of life. Blessed because you choose to see the grace above and beyond the pain. Blessed because you see a potential friend in every stranger you meet. Blessed because you know the darkest clouds have brilliant silver linings. And most blessed because: All you ever knew of the half-empty glass was that it was almost full.  

And a third — a Chinese proverb: Life itself cannot give you joy unless you really will it. Life just gives you time and space — it's up to you to fill it. 

Two prayers and a proverb saying much the same thing. Search out joy — recognize it — let God give it — act on it. Joy is a compact three-letter word that packs power. I recently wrote a friend, “I choose to live in joy. I always did like 'tiny houses.'” 

This tiny house holds a shout — and you can't squeeze a shout. It has a way of spreading and reverberating — even through generations. There is a Jewish proverb that says, “Do not associate with a man given to anger; Or go with a hot-tempered man, Or you will learn his ways, And find a snare for yourself.” What about associating with a joyful person and learning his or her ways. The snare springs and becomes a cheer.

Is there something false here? Grief is real. Trouble is real. PTSD is real. Chemical imbalance is real. Where is joy in any of this. I think joy has to respect these things. It has to wait and watch. It may eventually have to get creative, and find a way in. Most often it piggybacks through other people. But to ask joy to lie down and die is asking what it cannot do. 

A biblical psalm says, “Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.” The shout that will not be squeezed. The human soul longs to express itself in joy. It is a tiny house with an open door. 

In Greek joy is chara — a feeling of delight, gladness, or rejoicing. It comes from the words charis — grace or gift — and charos — to express joy. The goodness in life isn't hiding. The celebration may be interrupted — but joy is a gift from God, there every day for the finding — the choosing. Even in January.