Choose joy - 'tis the season

Is this a time for joy? What is joy, really? Where does it come from? It is wonderful news that joy is not the end but the start. It is not the result, it is the basis. Have an attitude of gratitude - have an attitude of joy. The thing is, that joy is not linked to circumstances because it belongs entirely and wholly to Life, God, and therefore is a key building block in creation. We stand with God and Her/His awesome creation that is filled with miracles and wonders ready to be discovered. Our ability to be faithful to God enables us to help others gain the courage to turn to God and find the joy of living in this very moment - be they single or married, widowed or divorced. Joy is the building block of life itself.

I come back to joy again and again and I continue to explore joy itself. There are new aspects and new ideas that come to mind every time I discover something new. Just the other day I felt overwhelmed with a challenge I was facing, and I took the time to listen and to pray. What I realized after some time was, that I could deal with the challenge with joy, with this God-given sense of authority, peace, and playfulness, that is always ours. I found this specific God-derived joy bubbling up in my heart, completely independent of material circumstances, and a little later, the problem was solved and another lesson in Love learned. The joy stayed.

A friend some time ago connected joy and the knowledge of being able to give. So today I give to you some prayerful ideas on joy, derived from Psalm 16. Joy is endless so we all can continue to learn more. In Psalm 16 the poet and spiritual listener writes in one verse (#11): „Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fulness of joy.“
 
We can turn this Biblical promise into a prayer, by diving deeper into the individual parts of this singing, poetic Psalm. Eugene Peterson translates this verse in The Message: „Now you’ve got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of Your face."

Here we go: "In Thy presence is fulness of joy." Let's zoom into the key words of the Psalm and pray with them. It all starts with God.

Thy - that is God's allness and goodness, Life’s presence, Truth’s presence, Love’s presence. God is here, always, God is here in the Now.

Thy presence - that is God’s reality and existence, in Her being, in His companionship, in His/Her authenticity. His/Her company and personal appearance. God's condition is always: Being present.

In Thy presence is - that is, right now, in the present. Not only tomorrow or next year, but in this moment, in every moment. We can trust this promise.

In Thy presence is fulness - that is, completeness, totality, wholeness, being completely filled to utmost capacity, in the fullest state or degree.

In Thy presence is fulness of joy - a state of happiness and belonging, a feeling of great delight caused by something good, expressing complete satisfaction and peace, a sense of appreciation and being valued, contentment, comfort, bliss. Joy is the signature feeling of Soul, God.

I let my prayer wander and found myself praying like this:

"In Thy presence is fulness of joy." In Life’s authenticity is a completeness of great delight. In Truth’s reality is integrity and wholeness of appreciation. In Love’s company is the full load of total satisfaction. We are completely happy and satisfied in God. We are safe in God, we are at peace in God. We are being fed with supply, health, and a happiness that can never decay, decline, or be clouded. Our joy is guaranteed. The whole creation, including me, is Love's reflection and can only feel what Love feels. Pure joy. So failure and undermining criticism aren't in the presence of God, self-condemnation and condemnation of others aren't in the one consciousness of Love. Everyone and everything is joyful and loving, because Love constitutes each on of us, each single element of the infinite fabric of creation, forever expanding and unfolding with joy. Nothing can distract me from my reason of existing - to express pure joy, to reflect God's love to everyone, to see and feel and know that God's presence is indeed full of joy. This presence is present, is here.

"In Thy presence is fulness of joy." A Bible commentator praises this Psalm as worthy of being written in letters of gold. Could you have voiced it better?
 
In letters of gold can also be written an insight into the nature of joy by the American author Willa Cather, in her novel Àntonia: "At any rate, that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great.“

„In Thy presence is fulness of joy."