Yesterday Sierra had another swim lesson, and I was blessed to be there and watch her. Near the end of the lesson, when all the kids were standing up and getting ready to jump into the water, Sierra stood, and started to dance. She was singing to herself, twirling around on the edge of the pool. I had to tell her to stop so that she wouldn't slip and fall in, and so that she would listen to her teacher.
But in the short time that she was dancing, I saw a look of pure joy on her face. Her she was, loving her time at the pool, meeting new friends, and dancing to some tune that was playing in her head. I loved watching it happen.
Joy is one of those things that we are short on in our lives. We see the negative, we see the problems, we see and hear things that tear all of us down. And joy is often lost in the rat race we call life.
Wouldn't it be great if we all had those tunes playing in our heads, and we could just stand up and dance, celebrating the joy of life?
In the book of psalms there is a line that says, "Joy comes in the morning." Quite often this line is used to help get us through the tough times in life. But you know what, the morning is here. The morning is now. We are given joy right now because of what Christ has done for us - and we are invited to celebrate God's many gifts with joy and celebration. Joy is here - but do we see it?
So today, may we all see the joy of life. May we celebrate and dance and sing, because we are so blessed and given so many opportunities in our lives. May we have our eyes opened to joy.
1 comment:
Pastor E described little Sierra's inner joy when he said, "She was singing to herself, twirling around on the edge of the pool. I had to tell her to stop so that she wouldn't slip and fall in, and so that she would listen to her teacher."
I find this to be a profound description of what life is. There is an inner joy, that which is playing that tune in our heads, that can only be God-sent.
But, even Sierra's joy is conditioned by what is going on in the world around her. She had to stop dancing, her inner song and her outer dance interrupted, so "she wouldn't slip and fall in, and so that she would listen to her teacher."
The world and the people in it are not always welcome interruptions.
That is not to say that there are no joyous interruptions, but I find that the older I get, the less patience I have with the interruptions of my inner joyous times.
That is also not to say that all people should live life the way I do. I say, let everyone seek their own joy, and not judge how others seek theirs.
I have an "outer world" interruption going on right now, my oldest sister, age 81, underwent heart surgery on Wednesday. I pray for her recovery.
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