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Posts tagged ‘joy’

Dec 27

The Work of Christmas

“The Sabbath is the day on which we learn the art of surpassing civilization.”― Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath

“When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people, to make music in the heart.”
― Howard Thurman

The work of Christmas.
To heal.
To feed.
To release.
To rebuild.
To bring peace.
To make music.
To be kind.
To be grateful.
To be generous.
To cast light.
To love.

“It cannot be denied that too often the weight of the Christian movement has been on the side of the strong and the powerful and against the weak and oppressed—this, despite the gospel.”― Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited

Dec 26

Divine Graciousness

“Love is holy because it is like grace–the worthiness of its object is never really what matters.”― Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

“This is the homely heart of Incarnation, this meeting of God in man with men and women, this simple face of divine graciousness in ordinary life rather than in the hymns of church fathers or in the dry elaborations of theologians.”― Eugene Kennedy, The Joy of Being Human: Reflections for Every Day of the Year

Don’t rush off
Christmas is not over
It’s just begun
Linger and savor
Slow and absorb
Pause and praise
Sit, stay here
Open the gifts of grace, presence, reflection
A day becomes a season becomes an outlook becomes a way of life
Tides of Christmas
Love rushes in, remains, transforms.

“When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out and the tide of love rushes in.” – Kirstin Armstrong

Dec 25

Hope, Peace, Joy, Love Birthday

“God does not come to the curated, but to the crowded, the tired, the not-ready. God comes to us.” – Kate Bowler

“This is the culmination of everything Advent has taught us to hold.

Hope—that even in the world’s unfinishedness, God is not done yet.
Peace—not the absence of chaos but God’s presence in it.
Joy—not glittery optimism, but the stubborn delight that arrives anyway.
Love—not sentimental, but embodied in the form of a baby, dependent and vulnerable.

Christmas is God’s declaration that God will not remain distant. Love does not hover above the fray. Love is born into it: among animals and straw, political oppression and family scandal, the ordinary ache of human life. It is the good news that changes everything.” – Kate Bowler

Hope
Peace
Joy
Love

The real kind, not curated, fluffy, Instagram-able
In the heart, bones, mind, spirit
Right in the middle of unfinished, imperfection, messy, chaos, ordinary, beautiful days

Accept the invitation
In and for us.

“Blessed are we on this Christmas morning,
astonished again at Love made flesh.
Blessed are we who dare to believe:
God is here—
in the dark, in the ordinary,
in us, and for us.”

Dec 24

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World Tilting

“I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Advent was never about perfection. It was about preparation for Love to arrive in whatever space you have left. And here’s the good news: Love does not check your to-do list before showing up. Love comes to the unfinished, the unwrapped, the undone.” – Kate Bowler

Love
Entering in a stable
Good news
Love has arrived, still arrives, remains
Alive, near as breath, ever-present
Palpable, transformational, for all
Weary world rejoices
Lean forward in awe and wonder
Enter the mystery
Oh, Holy Night
Peace. Joy. Love.

“The whole world tilts tonight. Love has come down, not as power, but as weakness. Not as judgment, but as mercy. Not as a king on a throne, but as a baby in a feeding trough. And that means there is no place too small, too dark, too ordinary for Christ to enter.

So we lean forward with the shepherds, trembling with anticipation. The night sky splits open. Heaven invades earth. And the announcement is not for the powerful but for “all the people.” Love has come, and nothing will ever be the same.

Blessed are we, standing on tiptoe at the manger,
awed that God would stoop so low.
Blessed are we who dare to believe
that Love Himself has come down,
not just for the world,
but for us.” – Kate Bowler

Dec 23

Deep Peace, Profound Wholeness

“You have the most beautiful things surrounding you. Give your mind the breather it deserves.”― Hiral Nagda

“When there is nothing to prove to anyone in the world, there is a deep peace and a profound wholeness which cannot be touched or pierced.”― Hiral Nagda

Expectations, assumptions, demands, control, ego, proving, counting, comparing, performance
Blinders to the beauty, abundance, blessings, contentment, joy, peace
Let go
Of all of it
Put it down
Drink in this day
Full presence
Sips and sprinkles
Drops and waves
Invite, allow, welcome
Newness poured into you
Nothing to do
But open, accept, receive
Mystery, serendipity, grace
Blinders off
Get out of your own way
Yield
Awe and wonder await your arrival, your participation
Deep peace, profound wholeness.

“Drink life one sip at a time. This moment is brand new. Let it pour its newness into you.”― Hiral Nagda

Dec 22

Gentle Break

“Birds chirping around you is a beautiful realisation that life in incredibly good. Let this sound be a gentle break in your routine.”― Hiral Nagda

“There’s nothing like
the fecund beauty of calmness.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya, Our Nepal, Our Pride

Carve space into this day
Step away
Break the busy routine
Field trip
Conservatory, art museum, park
30 minutes will do
Reset, retreat, refocus
In the pause, awareness
In the noticing, gratitude
In the slowing, peace
Beauty of calmness
Spilling into the world.

“As you slow down, you instantly enter into a brand new world.”― Hiral Nagda

Dec 20

Making Clearances

“One who has hope lives differently.”– Pope Benedict XVI

“It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.”– Pope Benedict XVI

Advent to Christmas doorstep.
Threshold to cross.
New space to create.
Slowing to presence.
Making clearances for soul breathing.
Hope, joy, peace.
Cross the threshold.
Open all of the gifts.

“At Christmas, time deepens. The Celtic imagination knew that time is eternity in disguise. They embraced the day as a sacred space. Christmas reminds us to glory in the simplicity and wonder of one day; it unveils the extraordinary that our hurried lives conceal and neglect. We have been given such immense possibilities. We desperately need to make clearances in our entangled lives to let our souls breathe.” – John O’Donohue

Dec 16

Illuminate and Animate

“It is not over,
this birthing.
There are always newer skies
into which
God can throw stars.”
― Ann Weems, Kneeling in Bethlehem

“Joy doesn’t demand we silence our grief. It asks us to make just enough room for God to slip in beside it. And sometimes, that tiny crack of space is all joy needs to return.

Blessed are we who cannot fake cheer,
who sing soft instead of loud,
who light blue candles in December
and still hope joy might come.” – Kate Bowler

Hope, light, joy
Even, perhaps especially, on the ground of grief
Thin places and spaces
Cracks for light to enter
Hem of heaven
A particular grace
Throwing stars
Newer skies to illuminate and animate
Once again
Be kind, generous, a warm embrace
You are one of the stars to another’s dark sky
Blessing of a smile, a call, an invitation, place of belonging
A room at the Inn
Cast light.

“Like a thin place, a blessing can help us perceive how heaven infuses earth, inextricable from daily life, even when that life is marked by pain. In the midst of grief, when our loss can make the boundary between worlds feel horribly solid, insurmountable, and permanent, this comes as a particular grace.”― Jan Richardson, The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief

Dec 15

Threads to Fabric, Weave

“Art is the funnel, as it were, through which spirit is poured into life.”― Thomas Mann

“Laughter is a sunbeam of the soul.”― Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain

Art
Laughter
Solitude
Connection
Reflection
Celebration
Reverence
Color
Hue
Light
Awe
Wonder
Weave these threads throughout each day
Fabric of ordinary to extraordinary
Giving birth to beauty, joy, peace.

“Solitude gives birth to the original in us.” – Thomas Mann

Dec 14

Rooted, Bright, Joy

“Indeed, frequent positive emotions—feelings of joy, delight, contentment, serenity, curiosity, interest, vitality, enthusiasm, vigor, thrill, and pride—are the very hallmark of happiness.”― Sonja Lyubomirsky, The How of Happiness

“we habitually fail to enjoy, savor, and live in the present, as our minds are often someplace else. However, when you think about it, the present moment is all we are really guaranteed.”― Sonja Lyubomirsky, The How of Happiness

Tilling, seeding, tending
Grounding, rooting, anchoring
Gratitude, beauty, joy
Smack in the middle of imperfection, incompleteness
Slowing to notice
Harnessing thoughts, moving to intentions, spilling into small actions
Daily process
Deliberate practice
Savoring the simple in the ordinary
Rapt presence in this day

“Gratitude is an antidote to negative emotions, a neutralizer of envy, hostility, worry, and irritation. It is savoring; it is not taking things for granted; it is present oriented.”― Sonja Lyubomirsky, The How of Happiness

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