Despair orJoy - Life or Death

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between happiness and joy? I have pondered the question for many years. It seems to me that happiness is about doing what I want, getting what I want, having what I want. I am at the center. Happiness is all about me. Now don't misunderstand me. On the surface level there is nothing wrong with being happy. In fact, we have a solemn duty to those around us, as Dennis Prager is wont to say, to be as happy as we can.

For me however, I have found that joy goes deeper. Joy comes when I discover God working in the world. Often I find it in little things. I just saw this bird today and it brought me joy. I felt the joy, just as I can feel happiness, but the joy came from a deeper place. The joy came in being so amazed at the beauty of God's creation. Genesis tells us that he created much of what we see for us - that we might experience joy in it - and then come to know Him more and more.

Joy can come in the midst of very hard times. Joy can overwhelm us and bring us peace when there is no logic way we should be feeling peace. Joy defies man's logic. Joy is a gift from God in which I believe He shares a bit of His joy with us.

Many believe that we have come to a tipping point in our society. It seems we have lost our way. We are calling good evil and evil good. It is time for us to stand with God and judge evil as evil and good as good.

I cannot watch as people pick through a petri dish of baby parts and discuss the monetary gain that can come from selling them without feeling apalled. How can a person look at the tiny feet and hands in that dish, the tiny brain and see the joy that God had created in that baby. The child was murdered.It was torn apart in the womb that God created to protect the baby from harm. Yet many seem to want to walk away from the idea - the appalling idea of choosing death rather than life.

We see Christians beheaded, burned alive in cages, women and young girls being sold as sexual slaves and we turn away. Is it because we are overwhelmed by the horror. Or is it simply a question of not wanting our own happy bubble burst by the reality of evil rampant in the world?

Many who will read this will agree with me when I say it is time to stand and to call evil for what it is. It is time to stand for life. I believe we are standing on the edge of a cliff. The words of Joshus ring in my head - "15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them. " (Deutoronomy 30:15-20)

Soe who read this will stop being my friends. I know that. It will nto be the first time. Nor is it likely to be the last. But if I personally am going to plan for joy, I must choose life and a life with God as my light and guide. Will you stand with me and choose joy and life also?

When fear and frustration, anger and grief fill our minds it becomes hard for our eyes to perceive the many moments of joy God sends our way rach and every day. When we set our intention to be aware and seek the moments of joy then gradually all the negatives begin to fade.

I have had a difficult time over the last week or so - difficult enough that I simply could not sit here at my computer and write. Worry took a toll on me. Until the day my granddaughter Maddy came to spend the day. She wanted to create something special to set her room apart. She wanted to make the space she had her own.

We talked about what her vision was. She knows me well enough to know that I will honor her ideas and not impose my own. Our agreement is that when she makes art, it is hers alone. I tell her my thought only if there is something she wants to do that I know will not work. For instance, if she wants to paint watercolor on top of glossy acrylics, I will let her try but also tell her why it might not work. I want her to feel confident and to know that she is learning as we all must do when we try new things.

We managed to get one of her projects done and another is in the works. I found a moment of great joy when I quietly watched her working. She was taking such care as she decorated some words to hang on her wall. She was quiet, as was I. And I saw a small smile play on her lips as she worked. My cares slipped away for that moment and I felt the joy.

Often in our culture we work very hard at manufacturing happiness. We are told that things will make us happy. Sometimes when we seek happiness, we seek the big thrill, the excitement of possession or striving. Happiness is a good thing but it can be shallow and fleeting.

Joy I have found tends to sneak up on me. It tip toes into my heart and often no one else knows. It stirs my heart and puts a smile on my face. And more often than not, it sneaks up when I give to others in a quiet way.

Seek joy, give it permission to enter your heart. We will always have cares. Life is often not exactly as we wish it to be. But when your heart and mind are open to joy, God surely will send it your way.