Joy

My mother passed away a little over 4 years ago.  Her words seem to carry more weight with me now than they did while she was alive.  Some of her last guiding words to me about my life were about joy.  She said, “pursue joy, at all costs.  It’s all that really matters in this life.”

She seemed to be summarizing what Jesus said in the gospel of John when Jesus pretty much sums up everything by saying, "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:11). He said it at the supper that he knew was to be his last. Maybe they both understood something at the end of their lives that they want us to understand now.

Happiness turns up more or less where you'd expect it to—a rewarding job, a memorable vacation, a vibrant home and marriage. Joy, on the other hand, is as notoriously unpredictable as the one who offers it.

If you are in search of deep joy…its really the only thing in this life that matters.

Carole Maines

Dig deep….keep going.