"Our life is a short time in expectation, a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment… Joy and sadness are born at the same time; both arising from such deep places in your heart that you cannot find the words to capture your complex emotions."
Henri Nouwen
Showing posts with label Joy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joy. Show all posts
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Friday, October 20, 2006
Joy (emotional strength)
“This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." Nehemiah 8:9b
I pulled these words out of their context, which is not a recommended practice. However, I believe the heart of what Nehemiah stated here is a universally transferable truth. The joy of the Lord is your strength…
In my experience, there is a sense – maybe more than a sense… maybe it’s closer to an assurance – of “all-rightness” that seems to be related to the presence* of God. It is not always rational or even explainable; sometimes it is flatly counterintuitive. But it’s as though the Creator smiles, touches, communicates, “It’s going to be alright.”
Sometimes joy violates my sense of justice. I might attenuate my celebration of someone’s good fortune because it strikes me as dissonant to their choices. This embarrasses me; I’m committed to learning a better, more generous-hearted way.
Sometimes I abstain from joy because I don’t think it’s congruent with my circumstances. I recognize my ridiculousness in this, but can still be very stubborn about it. Joy isn’t a wage – it’s a gift. Once received, it enlivens and empowers the rest of life.
*God's Presence is a huge topic unto itself -- one I'm not up to tackling today...
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
I pulled these words out of their context, which is not a recommended practice. However, I believe the heart of what Nehemiah stated here is a universally transferable truth. The joy of the Lord is your strength…
In my experience, there is a sense – maybe more than a sense… maybe it’s closer to an assurance – of “all-rightness” that seems to be related to the presence* of God. It is not always rational or even explainable; sometimes it is flatly counterintuitive. But it’s as though the Creator smiles, touches, communicates, “It’s going to be alright.”
Sometimes joy violates my sense of justice. I might attenuate my celebration of someone’s good fortune because it strikes me as dissonant to their choices. This embarrasses me; I’m committed to learning a better, more generous-hearted way.
Sometimes I abstain from joy because I don’t think it’s congruent with my circumstances. I recognize my ridiculousness in this, but can still be very stubborn about it. Joy isn’t a wage – it’s a gift. Once received, it enlivens and empowers the rest of life.
*God's Presence is a huge topic unto itself -- one I'm not up to tackling today...
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
Vision
Vision is cultivated in a context of Hope, and connects directly to Emotional Endurance [see table].
“Without a Vision is a people made naked”
Proverbs 29:18a (Young’s Literal Translation)
I had no idea that this was the literal translation! In the ancient context, nakedness meant poverty and shame; there was nothing erotically provocative about it.
In this proverb, vision obviously refers to something more than physical sight: it’s the ability to look into the future and see the prospect of joy, abundance, accomplishment, meaning…
This sort of vision has to do with attending to invisible things. I believe that every human is given something that only she/he can see; an internal treasure that needs to be externalized – the intangible made tangible. It relates to incarnation. Each of us is to champion what’s been entrusted on a spiritual level – sowing, cultivating, harvesting, distributing… to the enriching of our relational circles.
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
“Without a Vision is a people made naked”
Proverbs 29:18a (Young’s Literal Translation)
I had no idea that this was the literal translation! In the ancient context, nakedness meant poverty and shame; there was nothing erotically provocative about it.
In this proverb, vision obviously refers to something more than physical sight: it’s the ability to look into the future and see the prospect of joy, abundance, accomplishment, meaning…
This sort of vision has to do with attending to invisible things. I believe that every human is given something that only she/he can see; an internal treasure that needs to be externalized – the intangible made tangible. It relates to incarnation. Each of us is to champion what’s been entrusted on a spiritual level – sowing, cultivating, harvesting, distributing… to the enriching of our relational circles.
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
Thursday, April 13, 2006
ebb and flow
"Dear Lord, today I thought of the words of Vincent van Gogh: 'It is true there is an ebb and flow, but the sea remains the sea.' You are the sea. Although I experience many ups and downs in my emotions and often feel great shifts and changes in my inner life, you remain the same. Your sameness is not the sameness of a rock, but the sameness of a faithful lover. Out of your love I came to life; by your love I am sustained; and to your love I am always called back. There are days of sadness and days of joy; there are feelings of guilt and feelings of gratitude; there are moments of failure and moments of success; but all of them are embraced by your unwavering love.
My only real temptation is to doubt in your love, to think of myself as beyond the reach of your love, to remove myself from the healing radiance of your love. To do these things is to move into the darkness of despair.
O Lord, sea of love and goodness, let me not fear too much the storms and winds of my daily life, and let me know that there is ebb and flow but that the sea remains the sea. Amen."
Henri Nouwen
From A Cry for Mercy
My only real temptation is to doubt in your love, to think of myself as beyond the reach of your love, to remove myself from the healing radiance of your love. To do these things is to move into the darkness of despair.
O Lord, sea of love and goodness, let me not fear too much the storms and winds of my daily life, and let me know that there is ebb and flow but that the sea remains the sea. Amen."
Henri Nouwen
From A Cry for Mercy
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