Remaining joyful

I hope you are feeling joyful today. I certainly am, and I'm feeling appreciative, too. In spite of this state of unpleasant affairs, presently, one can still feel great. None of my family or friends have encountered Covid-19 in a personal level, except for one person. Jane experienced a reduction in salary because her place of employment was limited in the ability to sell. The family involved is making the best of the situation and tightening their belts, for now. They are going on with their lives, looking toward the future and adjusting to the new ways of living, they've been forced into.

Even though life can seem dismal, joy can still be found. I've wondered how I can be happy and hopeful within our unusual state of affairs in the world, now, but all I had to do was to look around. Spring made its appearance, without noticing what was outwardly happening in the world.

The trees and grass seem plusher than usual this year. My neighbor has a beautiful array of flowers planted around a pole in front of the couple's yard. I first saw only while blooms. That is, until I looked closer. Then, I glimpsed one red bloom that stood out. It struck me as a ray of hope. I wondered why the one colorful flower was red. It was like an intended bright spot in life -- saying "look at me, I'm adding beauty to the world."

The deck running across the back of our house is lined with beautiful trees -- gently resting their bountiful limbs full of leaves, upon the rungs of the deck. I see God living among all these natural signs, giving wonderful evidence that God is still in his heaven -- still within our world. I feel waves of comfort and love as God attempts to show me that "This too will pass." I have so much for which to be thankful!

We invited my daughter and her husband for Sunday dinner recently. It seemed like such a small gesture. However it had been a while since we have invited people over, or visited, because of social distancing. Preparing the simple meal and having, only two people in attendance, was like a feast at the home of an emperor. My husband and I prepared the meal and it turned out to be huge success. The food tasted better than usual, and the company was wonderful. I believe everybody felt joyful as we, again, enjoyed the company of loved ones. My chest swelled with joy and happiness and I felt blessed that someone was nearby with which to share the afternoon. I felt happy. I felt joyful.

I again looked out my window and recollected the memory of the day before, when a bunny rabbit and ground hog were spotted running across the yards, only a few yards from our house. "Thank you God." I whispered, I reassured God that I knew the divine was trying to point out the beauty and awesomeness of life. There is always a light somewhere in the darkness.

Let us all claim joy. A joy that is built on hope and the knowledge that there is a loving God. Author, Joan Chittister, says, "Life is not one road. It is many roads, the walking of which provides the raw material out of which we find hope in the midst of despair. Every dimension of the process of struggle is a call to draw from a well of new understandings. It is in these understandings that hope dwells. It is that wisdom that carries us beyond the dark night of struggle to the dawn of new wisdom and new strength."

"Hope takes life on its own terms, knows that whatever happens God lives in it, and expects that, whatever its twists and turns, it will ultimately yield it's good to those who live it consciously, to those who live it to the hilt" (Chittister).Yes, there's always reason to remain joyful.