July 20, 2024

A Prayer for Joy

JOY, a simple word of three letters,

Happiness and unhappiness are feelings in my heart.

But JOY and the absence of JOY are conditions of my whole being.

Happiness and unhappiness have causes.

JOY comes to pass.

JOY and happiness can each stand alone, but when they happen together,

JOY can make happiness even more happy

because love and sky and water can reflect the innner JOY.

JOY echoes up from my depths when love speaks the first word.

The happiness of sky and sunshine resounds in my being as JOY.

I do not contain JOY as a feeling inside my skin, but JOY embraces me as the profound tone of my being.

JOY upon depth of unspeakable JOY flows thru my being.

And my human response to this mysterious JOY is thankfulness.

Amen

a word that names the richest possibility of human life.

JOY is not a feeling in response to a fortunate event.

That is happiness; and it fades away as quickly as the happy situation passes.

JOY is not a momentary response to love or sky or water.

That is happiness; and it disappears when love is gone or the sky turns gray or the water hardens into ice.

No, JOY is a condition of spirit which so fills my being that no amount of unhappiness can blot it out.