It's our Wednesday night catechumenate class,
and we're discussing spiritual direction:
"Move toward joy,"
offers the facilitator.
We sit with that for a moment, before she adds:
"When you move toward what brings you joy,
you draw closer to God.
God lives in that joy.
Perhaps God is all joy."
Another woman adds,
"I think of it in terms of either consolation or desolation;
is what you're doing bringing fullness, healing, serenity?
or emptiness, pain, anxiety?"
Move toward joy.
Choose consolation, not desolation.
My counselor echoes this,
encouraging me to live for what is positive.
What does your weekend hold?
Ah, that's sound wonderful;
enjoy every moment of it.
Do you have any trips planned?
Those are things to anticipate, get excited about.
You have some great things to look forward to.
Avoid spending time fantasizing about how bad things might be:
Will I always have pain?
How will I cope?
And instead fantasize about how great thing might be:
I'll be hiking in Hawaii in just a few months, without pain.
I can do the exercises and be back to normal before I know it.
The future is unknown;
no imagined scenario is real,
so imagine the future you want, not the one you fear.
Choose joy,
which may mean, every day, choosing to stretch and exercise
even when you don't feel like it,
because the greater thing you're choosing
is healing, hope, confidence, satisfaction,
joy.
And he's right.
When I've done the stretches, when I've exercised,
I feel joy.
I know consolation in place of desolation.
When I blog? Joy. Consolation.
When I connect with others: Joy. Consolation.
So sure, I was--without my consent--hit by a car.
But I have not lost control of my life.
I have choices to make, every day,
to move toward joy.
Typing this is one of them.
The time I will spend on the elliptical will be the next.
Then stretching will be another.
Preparing to teach Sunday's 4th/5th grade class yet another.
Move toward joy.
Move toward joy.

Text and image © 2018 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.
Recent Comments