|
“Who I’d like to meet” is a standard
profile question on the popular social networking site,
Myspace.com. Many answer that question with a long
list of the kinds of people they would like to meet. One
page I stumbled upon answered the question plainly: “All
who live in true joy.” I had to wonder if anyone would
respond.
Here we are at the start of another
new year. We are making a lot of resolutions, but have
we thought about the goal of living in joy?
Joy seems elusive to many. As a pastor of a Lutheran
church, I see alot of suffering, hurt, and despair.
And then I see joy where I least
expect it. My friend whose wife is in a nursing home
with a debilitating illness told me that he can still
find joy while spending time with her. I’ve also seen
poverty-stricken people dance with joy during worship.
What is their secret? How can they possibly have joy
when their circumstances seem so grim? From what I’ve
observed in my own life and in the lives of my
parishioners, I have come to believe that joy is
available to us, but we often are not aware of it.
We need to learn how to use the joy that is already
ours. The dictionary defines joy as: “a state of
happiness or felicity: bliss, a source or cause of
delight.” As women of faith, we know this source to be
God — the source of all light and life. To tap into the
joy of the Lord, which the Bible says is our strength,
we must draw nearer to God.
Joy is a
lifestyle choice much like the diet and exercise
decisions we make daily. Here are some ideas for
discovering your joy and delighting in it more
abundantly.
1. Plug into
the source
The most effective path to joy is cultivating a closer
relationship with God. How many times have we said we
desire a closer connection and then done nothing about
it? We know that God is the source of joy, so we must
make space for God in our lives, even if it is just a few
minutes a day for devotions, prayer, or meditation.
2. Be present
Most of the joyful people I meet are able to live in the
present
moment — to disconnect from the failures of the past and
the fears for the future. By living more fully in the
now, we can make ourselves available to receiving the
many gifts God offers us today.
3. Affirm
your joy
Our unconscious minds are often programmed with negative
ideas that sabotage our efforts to make positive
changes. We have thousands of conversations with
ourselves every day. We tell ourselves things like: I’m
not good enough, I’m not happy, I’m fat, I’ll never
achieve it. The more we pound these messages into our
heads, the more we’ll believe them and act in ways that
make them true.
Try turning that self-talk into positive affirmation.
Even if we don’t believe it yet, we can tell ourselves:
I am good enough, I am grateful, I am blessed and I
bless others, I can achieve anything, I live in a state
of true joy! If you continue to affirm yourself, you can
reprogram your subconscious mind.
4. Take action
Scripture tells us that where our treasure is, there our
hearts will be also. If we spend our precious time in
activities that make us happy, then we will come to
embrace joy.
During my senior year in high school, I developed an
ulcer. The anxiety of preparing for college got the best
of me and I was in constant pain, munching antacids like
candy. Then, during my first year of college, I noticed
that the ulcer had mysteriously disappeared. I
realized that it was because I had many new friends
and spent a lot of time laughing. That’s when I made the
decision to be a regular laugher.
Fast forward to
today, as I attempt to balance being a pastor, an artist,
and a writer with my family life. I noticed that all
these
responsibilities were suppressing my laughter and thus
my joy. One night, my husband and I watched a
documentary about the Laughter Club Movement that
started in India in 1995 and is spreading across the
globe. People in the clubs gather for a half hour just
to laugh.
When I realized
that I was serious about my decision to be a laugher and
believed a laughter club would be a good thing to start,
I became a certified laughter leader and started the
first laughter club in Iowa. Sure enough, it is as much
fun as I thought it would be! In addition to tightening
my ab muscles without the work of crunches, laughing has
opened up a whole new ministry for me.
What joyful action would you like to take? Maybe you’d
like to join a social club. Or perhaps you want
to get out of some commitment to have more time for
yourself. Do you want to start a new hobby or find a job
that better suits your gifts? Or do you want to sort out
a difficult relationship in order to be more joyful?
If there is anything that stands in the way of your joy,
do something about it. You have more power than you can
imagine to change your circumstances.
“All who live in true joy.” That means you and me. God’s
gift to us is joy, but like any gift, we must choose to
unwrap it and use it. Let’s make joy a high priority.
Together, we can start a revolution of joy — and that’s
a pretty good way to kick off the New Year!
Laura Gentry
is pastor of Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Lansing,
Iowa. She is also an artist, writer,
motivational speaker, and Certified Laughter Yoga
Leader. Laura and her husband, William, are awaiting
their first child: a daughter from China.
Go to Coffee Talk
Share this article
|
