JOY

I was watching a pair of Cardinals today, they seemed so attached to one another and that plus their incredible colouring gave me a great lift. I watched spellbound as those bright red flashes flitted among the trees, stopped to perch for a little while on a particular branch, then off they would go again. I felt so privileged as although there are some very pretty birds in Brasil, we don’t have cardinals. Their very colour exudes energy and joy and I felt they transmitted it to me.

I began to think about how wonderful, relaxing and uplifting is the natural world. It seemed to me that the beautiful bright red of the cardinals was like a beam from the heart of God. They seemed totally unaware of the effect they were having upon me. They were just being themselves and were glad to share unconsciously all their beauty and love. I would that we could be the same; that we were able to be ourselves more often and to live life with the joy that the cardinal clearly does. They face their challenges too – the need to find food and shelter, raise their young and protect them from marauding predators.

However, they are so relaxed about it and seem far more determined to express their sheer joy in living than in worrying about those challenges. Life is a joy and if we could just approach it with that attitude I believe many of our ‘problems’ would look very different and far less threatening. We would release the spiritual joy that lives within each one of us but which we all too often stifle by our fears, nervousness and concern about ‘creating a good impression’. We would also come to understand just how infectious joy can be and in a world where so often we are urged to focus on the unpleasant and the violent, what a wonderful alternative that is.

There is a lovely old song that we used to sing at the Lyceum, the Spiritualist Sunday School, when I was a boy. It is called “Joy Bells” and puts into words and song the joy that is available to us from our children here and from Angels and other bright beings who visit us from the spiritual world. The first verse and chorus are:-
Joy bells ringing, children singing,
Fill the air with music sweet,
Joyful measure, guileless pleasure,
Make the chain of song complete.

Joy Bells, joy bells,
Never, never cease your ringing,
Children, children,
Never, never cease your singing,
List, list, the song that swells,
Joy bells, joy bells.

I believe if we pay more attention to the natural world around us, to the birds, animals and plants in it and to our own children, we will capture that joy and once captured we can share it with everyone else. By doing that, life will take on a new dimension for us and we will truly be acknowledging the link that exists between all forms of life: The link that is the spiritual force at the centre of all things.

Take heart my soul as you feel the pulse of life around you and know the joy that living brings to those who make themselves conscious of how we take part in the symphony of life in the company of all God’s creation.