I have told you these things that my joy may be in you and your joy be complete.
*Gospel of John 15.11
The Buddha -
There is no fire like greed, No crime like hatred, No sorrow like separation, No sickness like hunger of heart, And no joy like the joy of freedom.
*Adapted, Thomas Byrom, Trans. The Dhammapada. In Jack Kornfield, Ed., with Gil Fronsdal. Teachings of the Buddha. Rev. & Expand.
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He, the Black Lab running the shore - is free romping, aglow with glee He runs toward me, gets near, then back to Mom and Dad Possibly he got near enough to see I was not Dad or maybe he was just checking me out He is free, unchained, untethered knows where his love comes from has learned how to be faithful how to roam too He can be trusted like that I pray I can If I can I think I will be as joyful as he
*Brian K. Wilcox. "Joyful as He." 1.20.22, Ferry Beach, Maine, PM
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Do not wait for the right circumstances for joy; there are no right circumstances for joy. Circumstances are in ceaseless flux. And we have emotional ups and downs, sometimes purely biological, at other times directly related to changes outside us. Yet, we can have an underlying, subtle joy - often called in spiritual literature "bliss."
This bliss is not fun or pleasure but can manifest with both. It is not an emotion but more a deeper feeling-sense. The sense of bliss fluctuates, too, while bliss itself remains the same - as do all spiritual Qualities.
In the right conditions, joy springs forth like the gleeful lab on the shore - but it is always there. Always there, for not reliant on circumstances as is happiness. Always there, for arising from loving union with That in whom we live, love, and breathe the Spirit of Life.
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His Mom and Dad trusts the lab with the freedom to roam, to explore, to be himself, not merely an extension of them. Life trusts us, too. Joy is found with the courage to be free, to live life as an adventure, not merely a survival. To Life's "Yes" to us, we reply "Yes." From the "Yes" arises the effulgence of joy.
*Use of photography is allowed accompanied by credit given to Brian K. Wilcox and title and place of photograph.
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
