En-joyed by God

I lost my son. A friend lost her job. Another is dealing with pretty severe mental illness. All of us would say our relationship with God is, well, good. So, what gives? Why are we dealing with the same hurts and sorrows as everyone else? Isn’t this God-thing supposed to make us joyful, calm, peaceful, and, well, good?

The thing is, it does. It just doesn’t keep the bad things from coming our way. “You will have trouble in the world,” Jesus says. “But take courage, I have overcome the world.” This reminder from John’s gospel sets things in perspective. Human choices continue to mess things up, yes. Our shortsightedness, our selfishness, our downright cruelty continue to hurt ourselves and those around us. But for those of us who try our best to walk with God, who bend our ears and try to act on what we hear, well, that’s when the light breaks into the darkness. That’s when the candles start to burn. That’s when this thing called joy pops up in our hearts even as our hearts break.

It is odd, yes, and t is not to be missed. Keep looking. Keep listening. Insist on experiencing that moment when something visits, and for a second, a tiny split second, everything makes sense, everything is congruent, and you are lifted above, beyond even though you are squarely still in. This experience stays with you, as all visits of God stay with us. It empowers us. You might say it en-joys us.

Reflection

What is your experience of such a lifting? Have you equated this with God? Why or why not?

Prayer

Dear God, your presence empowers. Your presence en-joys us. Yes, even in our darkest moments, we can sense it. Thank you for visiting us. Thank you for being within us. Turn us to you always. Amen.