Compiled by Linda Sherry
Worship Support Specialist
Each month WUUC explores a different theme brought to us through Soul Matters. We explore these themes in Worship, in small groups and in casual conversation. Here are a few thoughts to ponder as you consider December’s theme:
Opening to Joy
Maybe Joy is elusive for a reason.
Maybe it’s slippery in order to help us understand
that it was put here to fly.
Or better yet: To be flung!
To be passed, not possessed.
To be spread between you and me,
between the ones who received its gift
and the ones that have been looking for its treasure
for a very long time.
Maybe it’s a beautiful and elegant contagion,
over which we have more control than we think.
If only we share it.
If only we notice that joy is not ours to keep,
but ours to give.
Maybe joy opens us
as much as we open to it.
Maybe that’s the way light leaks into our world.
—Poet unknown, printed in Soul Matters Dec 2021
The high value put upon every minute of time, the idea of hurry-hurry as the most important objective of living, is unquestionably the most dangerous enemy of joy… –Hermann Hesse
Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift. –Robin Wall Kimmerer
We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure, but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world. To make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the Devil. –Jack Gilbert, from A Brief for the Defense
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.
–Rabindranath Tagore
I always just thought if you see somebody without a smile, give’em yours! –Dolly Parton
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
–Thich Nhat Hanh
Find the December Soul Matters packet here.