On the Wings of Joy
Author: Michael Rawls

Joy gives us wings! In times of joy our strength is more vital, our intellect keener, and our understanding less clouded. We seem better able to cope with the world and to find our sphere of influence.
• Ábdu'l-Bahá

Linda Popov tells the story of her child opening a Christmas present while the family looked on. After tearing off the wrapper, sticking to bow to his chest, and dumping out the contents, he scrunched up the wrapping paper and put the box on his head and paraded around the room. Grandma asked, “Honey, don’t you want your present?” The look on the boy’s face seemed to say, “You mean, there’s more?” When was the last time I let myself go with the simple joys like that? I try my best to do that often, to seek the simple joys in life, and enjoy them fully. I don’t think anyone is ever too old to be silly and have fun. There is more to life than what is inside the box. Sometimes, it can get really interesting and quite joyful just to see what you can do with the box that life comes in! There are many opportunities during the day to find joy, as Agatha Christie says, in knowing “quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.”

Ábdu'l-Bahá states that joy can bring me clarity and strength, and can help me find my sphere of influence. That seems a tall order, but giving this idea further thought, it occurs to me that if I can seek and find joy in my daily life, I can also find joy in the solitude of being alone in my sacred spaces, listening to my inner voice which is the source of that clarity and the source of my ability to cope with what life deals out to me. St. Thomas Aquinas taught that “sheer joy is His and this demands companionship,” meaning that I should keep the company of the Source of my joy. These words are echoed in Psalm 37, “Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Seeking joy by trying to bend things into being joyful is much like handling a butterfly – it is destroyed before long, and unenjoyable beyond that. One can go looking for butterflies anywhere, but if one knows where they are likely to be, and waits there patiently, the butterflies will be more likely to seek you. Joy is much the same. If someone is sitting in the living room of a house, it is not likely that a butterfly will land on them; likewise one must be in places and situations that are, or could be, joyful, and trust that joy will be experienced as a result. I have learned to be trustful of the Universe when it comes to joy, rather than attempting to be in control. Doing this keeps my experience open to what joy the world has to offer me, freely offered and unmasked.

Is perpetual joy possible? In the midst of difficult situations such as loss of a job or divorce, the death of a loved one or even just getting cut off in traffic, it is difficult to find joy. If I can raise my view of these situations, if I can overhaul my thinking with regard to these experiences, if I can understand that what I am experiencing is part of the mission of my life, these difficulties lose their power over me. Regardless of how bad a situation is, in the Grand Cosmic Scheme of Things, it is simply a learning opportunity. It is meant to teach me, not to control how I think or who I am. If I can remember that a loving Father who cares enough to give me those opportunities sends every experience to me, even the most difficult ones, and that Spirit is beside me in this process, I can joyfully grasp the idea that there is more to what I am experiencing, beyond the box it came in.

By way of example: at my dad’s memorial service after his passing several years ago, the family did karaoke. Dad couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, and this celebration of his life was, by his request, not somber, although there was no shortage of grief and tears. Dad had a fine appreciation of the ridiculous, and among other joyful things we did that day, many of us got silly with a microphone in our hand. The cynical may call that denial, but those who participated in the festivities found it joyful nonetheless, and a great honor to a man who loved music. We didn’t plan to do karaoke, dad, it just happened because we were in a place that could be joyful. It was a vital lesson in the joy of just being alive. (I still miss him, these many years gone.)

Make a conscious decision to let whatever happens be simply noticed, paying attention to the lesson to be learned from it, and you will be free to find the joy in it. Joy is our prerogative!








--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday's Inspiration is a non-denominational "e-zine" with a different inspirational article published each week. It offers a broad variety of practical and inspiring topics, based on common sense and sound philosophy. There is a discussion forum link, with chat and message areas where you may feel comfortable about sharing your positive ideas and encouraging others to live life to the fullest. Visit Fridays Inspiration at http://www.n-spire.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------