Joy.
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:23 pm
Here are some thoughts my wife put together on Joy. I found them to be inspiring. I hope you do as well.
My thoughts on joy this Christmas...
Joy.
We hear about it a lot this time of year. What is it? Is it an effervescent feeling available only to those whose lives are perfectly happy, even-keeled and in order? Is there anyone like that, actually? Can it exist for those who are grieving; for those who are lonely, abandoned or abused? Is it a feeling or a choice? Or both?
A memory is deeply etched in my mind: a few years ago as part of our Christmas program at church, I asked a few ladies in my Sunday School class to share significant memories from their past with the congregation. I knew it would be a hard task for one dear friend that I asked to share, because she had just lost a brother to a degenerative disease that spring, and her remaining brother who shared the same disease was very low in spirits as he foresaw his own end, while grieving the loss of his older brother who was his moral support and staunch encourager.
My friend shared that one Christmas a number of years ago, their father called the family together into the room, and they discussed the physical situation of their sons, what to expect in the years to come, and how to deal with it. This brave father told his children that he would like for them as a family unit to "Choose Joy" as a response to their situation, and thanked God for giving them the boys for whatever length of time He saw fit and entrusting their care to them.
As an observer, I have seen that joy exhibited in this family's life in myriad ways. I saw it in the loving care given by the family of these two men as the disease increasingly took its toll on their bodies. I saw it in the brothers themselves; in their tremendous determination to be kind and effectual as long as they were able to be. I heard it in the testimonies shared by those whose lives they had touched. I will never forget the thoughtful wedding gift they gave their sister from their wheelchairs; a set of admission tickets to Butchard Gardens on their honeymoon. I see it through the family's interactions; their planning of events of celebration in the midst of their own pain; their deeds of kindness for others who suffer; their identification with other's misfortunes.
Recently the second son passed away as well. The night of his viewing, we were several spots behind a blind man who we know affectionately as Bear, as he met the parents at the side of the casket. My eyes misted as I witnessed this meeting between three people who had never met before, but who fell on each other's shoulders and cried in common suffering. These same people, hitherto unknown to each other, had dinner together less than a week later. We went out for coffee the next morning with Bear, and he told us that he felt a deep soul connection with that couple even though they had never seen each other prior to that week. I personally believe it is because Bear himself has chosen the path of joy for himself despite his handicap of blindness, caused by ignorance and carelessness at his birth, and has spread that joy to people and cubs of all ages the world over.
Is this a blind, unthinking, passive joy? Not in the least. I have heard the heart-cry of suffering, the questions, and yes, sometimes the anger of these people. It is a strong, active joy, born out of the will in gratitude to God for His goodness. This joy that shines through eyes of sadness is powerful and contagious. It is a deep-seated joy that is connected to the heart of the Giver of Joy; God Himself Who willingly gave up His only Son to a brutal death for us, that we might know that joy ourselves. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable Gift; thanks be to Jesus, the Man of Sorrows and of Joy.
My thoughts on joy this Christmas...
Joy.
We hear about it a lot this time of year. What is it? Is it an effervescent feeling available only to those whose lives are perfectly happy, even-keeled and in order? Is there anyone like that, actually? Can it exist for those who are grieving; for those who are lonely, abandoned or abused? Is it a feeling or a choice? Or both?
A memory is deeply etched in my mind: a few years ago as part of our Christmas program at church, I asked a few ladies in my Sunday School class to share significant memories from their past with the congregation. I knew it would be a hard task for one dear friend that I asked to share, because she had just lost a brother to a degenerative disease that spring, and her remaining brother who shared the same disease was very low in spirits as he foresaw his own end, while grieving the loss of his older brother who was his moral support and staunch encourager.
My friend shared that one Christmas a number of years ago, their father called the family together into the room, and they discussed the physical situation of their sons, what to expect in the years to come, and how to deal with it. This brave father told his children that he would like for them as a family unit to "Choose Joy" as a response to their situation, and thanked God for giving them the boys for whatever length of time He saw fit and entrusting their care to them.
As an observer, I have seen that joy exhibited in this family's life in myriad ways. I saw it in the loving care given by the family of these two men as the disease increasingly took its toll on their bodies. I saw it in the brothers themselves; in their tremendous determination to be kind and effectual as long as they were able to be. I heard it in the testimonies shared by those whose lives they had touched. I will never forget the thoughtful wedding gift they gave their sister from their wheelchairs; a set of admission tickets to Butchard Gardens on their honeymoon. I see it through the family's interactions; their planning of events of celebration in the midst of their own pain; their deeds of kindness for others who suffer; their identification with other's misfortunes.
Recently the second son passed away as well. The night of his viewing, we were several spots behind a blind man who we know affectionately as Bear, as he met the parents at the side of the casket. My eyes misted as I witnessed this meeting between three people who had never met before, but who fell on each other's shoulders and cried in common suffering. These same people, hitherto unknown to each other, had dinner together less than a week later. We went out for coffee the next morning with Bear, and he told us that he felt a deep soul connection with that couple even though they had never seen each other prior to that week. I personally believe it is because Bear himself has chosen the path of joy for himself despite his handicap of blindness, caused by ignorance and carelessness at his birth, and has spread that joy to people and cubs of all ages the world over.
Is this a blind, unthinking, passive joy? Not in the least. I have heard the heart-cry of suffering, the questions, and yes, sometimes the anger of these people. It is a strong, active joy, born out of the will in gratitude to God for His goodness. This joy that shines through eyes of sadness is powerful and contagious. It is a deep-seated joy that is connected to the heart of the Giver of Joy; God Himself Who willingly gave up His only Son to a brutal death for us, that we might know that joy ourselves. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable Gift; thanks be to Jesus, the Man of Sorrows and of Joy.
