Joy? Yes, Joy!
If you knew me personally, you
would know that underneath this Tigger exterior is a terribly lively Eeyore (apologies
to A.A. Milne for stealing his characters). That means that joy is a struggle
for me. No, not the surface, happy-go-lucky kind of glad-handing. That seems to
come naturally. I mean a joy that is undying, irreversible, indefeasible, and
irrefragable.
Therefore, years ago, while reading St. Augustine’s “Confessions”
I was thrilled by something he said, and have since committed it to memory. It
is an anchor that holds me down when northeasters blow a-storming into my life.
“For there is a joy which is not given to the ungodly, but to those who love you for your own sake, whose joy is you yourself. And this is the happy life: to rejoice in you, of you, for you. This is true joy and there is no other” (Confessions 10.22).
I hand it off to you with the hopes that you will find this same
joy.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Romans 15.13).
Mike
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