Doing a Thing with Joy

Somewhere in the furthest recesses of your heart, perhaps in some shadow that you haven’t yet forgiven or resolved, sits your right to feel joy.

A mixture of emotions, an attitude, a choice. It’s perhaps deeper than the fleeting scent we call happiness and it waits to be brought into life through you.

When do you feel joy? Do you sometimes struggle to feel it?

It’s been a challenging year. Maybe that’s been true for you in a particular way? I was so pleased when I was asked to make a sign to hang above the main door of the church for Christmas. Some work outside.

Sometimes I’ve said ‘yes' unwisely and then got out of my depth, yet saying yes and putting one step forward at a time is how things happen. Saying ‘yes’ helps creation tick along.

I called a friend. After a few days we have the right kind of wood, paint, other helping hands, and the work begins. Then there's the final touches of gold paint, and she’s hoisted up above the door.

What happens when we switch on the lights?

Something previously in the dark is illuminated.

What are the most challenging circumstances you’ve faced this year? And perhaps against all the odds, what attitude did you choose to be in?

(And just as I’m writing a guy knocks on the door here with a parcel, and in his smile was pure joy. I am left with his imprint.)

Joy requires me to give.

It’s born in the heart through simple acts of kindness.

It’s free. It’s abundant.

And, if you’re curious about Christmas, the Christian tradition celebrates the ‘Prince of Peace’ coming into the world at this time of year, born on the cusp of East and West, into one of the cruellest, brutal and most barbaric civilisations ever to grace our world.

Light always shines in the darkness.

And the darker it is, the clearer the light illuminates.

When you get up each morning, sit for ten minutes and light a candle. Put your hand on your heart. In the day give something freely. Maybe smile at someone you don’t know. Then hold it a heartbeat longer than usual. Be present. Breathe.

Give thanks when they smile back.

And notice how you feel.