God’s joy is always there for the choosing. It’s me, and my self-preoccupation, that comes between me and joy so often.
Why do I choose to take myself and life so seriously—instead of choosing joy? Do I think I’ll accomplish more by being all grim and serious about it?
I can’t honestly say, except that it’s a habit. I get up from bed or from a prayer time (on a good day) and I put on my game face and I start tackling the duties and problems of the day. Too often each day feels like that—just a series of duties or problems.
What if...I could develop the habit of choosing joy as my default? I’ve been thinking about this, trying it out, noticing. To me, choosing joy—when I’m not singing or praying, but just living life—feels like literally fixing my inner gaze on a higher spot than normal. It’s almost physically, in a mental kind of way, “Setting my mind on things above.”
This verse also comes to mind: “I set before you life and death—choose this day which you will choose.” Is it possible that my response to a spilled Frosty is a life or death choice? I’m beginning to think it is. Choosing the way that leads to life means that the spilled Frosty is just one more stain to soak, not an occasion for anger and sin. Choosing the way that leads to life means not letting small things rob me of joy.
Quotes from C.S. Lewis:
"We poison the wine as He decants it into us; murder a melody He would play with us as the instrument...Hence all sin, whatever else it is, is sacrilege."--Letters to Malcolm
Why do I choose to take myself and life so seriously—instead of choosing joy? Do I think I’ll accomplish more by being all grim and serious about it?
I can’t honestly say, except that it’s a habit. I get up from bed or from a prayer time (on a good day) and I put on my game face and I start tackling the duties and problems of the day. Too often each day feels like that—just a series of duties or problems.
What if...I could develop the habit of choosing joy as my default? I’ve been thinking about this, trying it out, noticing. To me, choosing joy—when I’m not singing or praying, but just living life—feels like literally fixing my inner gaze on a higher spot than normal. It’s almost physically, in a mental kind of way, “Setting my mind on things above.”
This verse also comes to mind: “I set before you life and death—choose this day which you will choose.” Is it possible that my response to a spilled Frosty is a life or death choice? I’m beginning to think it is. Choosing the way that leads to life means that the spilled Frosty is just one more stain to soak, not an occasion for anger and sin. Choosing the way that leads to life means not letting small things rob me of joy.
Quotes from C.S. Lewis:
"We poison the wine as He decants it into us; murder a melody He would play with us as the instrument...Hence all sin, whatever else it is, is sacrilege."--Letters to Malcolm
"It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men."--Reflections on the Psalms
"Something of God...flows into us from the blue of the sky, the taste of honey, the delicious embrace of water whether cold or hot, and even from sleep itself.'"--'Scraps', St. James' Magazine
"Where, except in the present, can the Eternal be met?"--Christian Reflection
I don't know what the future holds, but I can choose joy in the present!
"Trying to do the Lord's work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus flows out of you. ~Corrie ten Boom"
2 comments:
So glad to read this! As you know, my blog's name is I Choose Joy!, but I'm not very good at it.
--Gena
Gena,
I am not good at it either! Learning and forgetting and relearning always....
~Jeanne
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