Pure Joy!
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13
As most of you know, I have retired from classroom teaching, but I can’t give up on kids yet. My little guy that I take care of will be two in December. I love watching him explore the world. There are moments that I can grasp pure joy through his eyes.
He watches for squirrels every morning and after his nap. There is a big, OLD oak tree right in front of his window that offers a hearty supply of acorns. He watches them chase around the tree and flip from limb to limb. He laughs and giggles as they provide an acrobatic show just for him. Occasionally, one of them will venture out onto a branch that comes close to the window. His eyes widen as he notices the whiskers and tiny feet.
I cannot help but wonder what he is thinking. The truth is that his mind really isn’t conceptualizing any of this yet. He just finds them to be amusing and he reacts to their antics.
The world has not damaged his innocence. He is able to enjoy the natural moment. I pray that he will always take the time to soak in the beauty around him. Am I being unrealistic? Well, I am sure he will go through some tough times and forget about squirrels. He will feel fear, grief, failure and all kinds of growing up pains. But my prayer for him is that he will remember that thrill he once felt as he watched from the safety of his crib.
Joy is an inside job! When is the last time you felt joy? Please don’t confuse this with happiness because they are not the same. In the middle of your dark moment, were you still able to laugh and feel light-hearted? Were you able to let go of your issues—even just for a few minutes?
Is this something we can capture or recapture? Absolutely! We are never too old to experience joy in our lives. I believe that the older we become, it is actually easier, for the old things just don’t matter so much anymore. Just to hear someone snort-laugh can bring me great delight because I know they have had a positive experience and I don’t even need to know what happened.
Once we’ve had moments of pure joy, we have this tendency to desire more. They seem to come when we least expect them. That is when they mean the most.