Joy, unlike happiness, seems to prefer veiling itself within quietness, as though it is shy. Joy is not shy, joy simply arises from the depths of Life and has no need to call attention to itself. Joy is its own contentment. This is a reason joyful beings can be so gently present to others, saying so much without saying anything. Even the unassuming walk of the joyful person, or his or her silent look toward or look away, speaks more than could ever be put into words. Pleasure never lasts, coming and going, while joy, birthless and deathless, is a quality of the eternal.
* * *
I visited a woman whom I had never met. Her name was Minnie. Minnie lived in a care facility. She had one leg amputated about four years prior and since had lived in the facility.
A nurse moved Minnie from the dining room into the hall, so she and I could meet. I bent over and placed my hand on Minnie's shoulder. I introduced myself, and we talked a while. Amazing, in her eyes, as I saw also her tongue protrude again and again from her mouth, beyond her control, I saw and felt a wellspring of joy. Her smile was radiant. We shared prayer. I left changed, renewed physically and mentally, when previously weary.
I never saw Minnie again. Yet, I remember her after many years. Through her aging and broken form, Light lighted upon me, and I left renewed by and with Joy.
* * *
When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.
*Rumi
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*The theme of "Lotus of the Heart" is 'Living in Love beyond Beliefs.' This work is presented by Brian K. Wilcox, of Maine, USA. You can order Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, through major online booksellers.
