The other week, I shot a friend of mine (let’s call her Rita) an email. The subject line: “10 Things I Like about You.” My intent was to give her spirits a boost. According to a mutual friend of ours, Rita had been struggling with handling a certain issue.
Do you ever struggle to live joy in daily life? I do. Too often, I’m inclined to confuse it with the conscious feeling of happiness. That’s not joy, though; joy is a virtue, a state of mind, not a feeling. You can possess it even amidst the greatest sufferings. You can even radiate it without realizing it. But how?
I picked up this bit of wisdom from an anonymous person. It’s golden and applicable in so many situations. I heartily applaud it.
People are starved for good conversation. Whether they know it or not, many are longing for something beyond the surface level encounters typical between modern people. Yet how to strike deeper?
I understand. It’s a little phrase that pops up all the time in our daily conversations. We mean well. We wish to express our sympathy, to let people know they’re not alone, that we grasp what they’re dealing with. But do we?
My mom and I were talking about icons vs. paintings and the focus on symbolism vs. realism. Then she remarked on manger scenes and how they’ll portray Jesus only partially wrapped up in swaddling clothes.