FRUITS OF THE JOYFUL HEART
BY F. LIBYOS
 |
| Photo by MI PHAM on Unsplash |
Yes, joy is an internal event. Its roots are in the heart and its fruits in our daily life. That is why joy is not postponed. It does not bear alibis and excuses. You can have everything and be in misery and you can have very little and be happy.
 |
| Photo by Robert Collins on Unsplash |
I've known people whose lives have no comfort, but whose hearts are huge, stretched out in the light, full of happiness and laughter. They too have suffering and wounds. Needs and problems but they don't make them an alibi for their misery and grumbling, for their bad behavior. I read something somewhere the other day that I liked, "I was stabbed too, but I didn't become a knife...".
 |
| Photo by Matheus Bertelli |
I was in a coffee shop a few days ago and I heard someone at the next table say "how can you be joyful, man, when you work all those hours and come home in pieces...". In fact, from what I could tell, he was a high wage earner.
And I wanted to say to him, can I introduce you to people who are on a delivery vehicle all day in hot, rainy and cold weather and when they go home they play with their kids and are joyful? Shall I tell you about the kids who get paid starvation wages and when they come to pick up your order they crack a smile like a blooming rose?
Shall I tell you about mothers who raise children in poverty and destitution, in sickness and hardship, and their faces shine, clothed in joy and hope for life?
About immigrants who have lost everything and continue to walk in the dream of a better tomorrow, about elderly people who offer joy to other people with their prayers and meager pensions?
 |
| Photo by Eric Masur on Unsplash |
And it doesn't mean that all these people don't have their dark times. But they are moments, bad times, not days, months and years of misery. Because then it means that the darkness has spread through you and no amount of work, exhaustion or difficulty is to blame but you choosing darkness over light.
 |
| Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash |
The other day a young couple had been living on 5 euros and were eating plain pasta with their two young children. And yet they were so happy. They were making fun of themselves and laughing. In a few hours God gave them a solution. Money came out of nowhere. Do you know why the solution came? Because they didn't complain. Because they weren't miserable. Because they didn't say "it's over." They stayed open to wonder and surprise, keeping joy in their hearts. And the miracle came.
 |
| Photo by Matheus Bertelli |
The miracle comes when you let yourself surrender to the God of surprises, when you don't try to control everything. The miracle is not a spectacle but a vision. A view into a world of immense possibilities, abundance and richness. When you say "thank God" to the less, the more will follow. When you have it all and have no joy, and you are miserable and pitiful, sooner or later you will lose it all. When, while you have a thousand reasons to grumble, you are thankful, laugh and rejoice, soon your life will be filled with miracles and blessings. Joy and happiness is a choice. It wants you to love it and desire it. To work at it and labour for it, like an ascetic works on prayer.
 |
| Photo by LIZHI LIANG |
Comments
Post a Comment