Singing Along the Journey

Joy

Christmas 2: Joy and Wonder

Joy is one of my favorite topics, so I was very, well, joyful, when I saw the title for Bruce Epperly's second reflection on the days of Christmas.  I mean, I named my dog Joy -- does that give you a hint about how important the idea of joy is to me?  And I mean joy -- not happiness.  Really, they are two different things altogether. My definition of joy is this:  that feeling of peace that underlies all being (even when we are not aware of it).  I experience joy as a kind of contended hum--almost like the soft purring of a cat.  It is the sound of the…
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One more to go…Advent 2013 Day 15

Sometimes, when you set a challenge for yourself like my Advent writing challenge, you have days, well, when you just don't have anything to say...but then you have to write something anyway. Today is the third day of Advent and in my community, this is the day we light the candle of Joy.  I will freely admit that I am feeling no joy right now.  I am living with the emotional after effects of serious heart surgery.  Add to that a bought of seasonal Grinch-ness and the need to finish a paper from a class that I finished before the surgery, and well, I would say that today I am…
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Christmas 2: Joy and Wonder

Joy is one of my favorite topics, so I was very, well, joyful, when I saw the title for Bruce Epperly's second reflection on the days of Christmas.  I mean, I named my dog Joy -- does that give you a hint about how important the idea of joy is to me?  And I mean joy -- not happiness.  Really, they are two different things altogether. My definition of joy is this:  that feeling of peace that underlies all being (even when we are not aware of it).  I experience joy as a kind of contended hum--almost like the soft purring of a cat.  It is the sound of the…
Read More

One more to go…Advent 2013 Day 15

Sometimes, when you set a challenge for yourself like my Advent writing challenge, you have days, well, when you just don't have anything to say...but then you have to write something anyway. Today is the third day of Advent and in my community, this is the day we light the candle of Joy.  I will freely admit that I am feeling no joy right now.  I am living with the emotional after effects of serious heart surgery.  Add to that a bought of seasonal Grinch-ness and the need to finish a paper from a class that I finished before the surgery, and well, I would say that today I am…
Read More