What makes my heart sing - by Margaret

I carried this topic with me -in my thoughts for the past week.  It is easy to give many answers- but somehow they didn’t seem to fully define true joy.  There are the great gifts and joys of family, of goals accomplished, of travel, of music, of creativity, of sharing experiences with those we love.  Many of those however seem in the moment, special, but fleeting. What gives me joy in the every day.  What wakes in me the feeling of joy, peace, contentment as I go about my daily activities.

As a child we intrinsically know what we love and gravitate to the activities we enjoy- but over time expectations, commitments, distractions, can take us away from that. . Those can bring great reward, but don’t always answer to the natural gifts God has given us to use and enjoy - or the things our soul may crave.  Is joy in the balance of both?

Steve Jobs says, "the only way to do great work is to love what you do”,  it is all about passion. While I can agree with that, something else runs deeper.

The dictionary defines joy as the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated: the expression or display of glad feeling; or a state of happiness.  As a verb we feel joy, are glad or rejoice- or bring joy to others .

There are 242 texts in scripture referring to Joy.  Joy is defined not just in the moment, but as a state of being.  Deuteronomy 16:15 tells us that " the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.”  John 15:10-12 promises that  "If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

I keep coming back to what I call my life verse from Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God”.   It is in the quiet and contemplative times that I feel closest to God.  Maybe that is the introvert in me.  But it also shows me that my joy is not in all the  things around me but in the hope and confidence I have in Him.  Psalm 16:11 and Acts 2:28 in similar words describe the feeling this gives me "You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence”.

So yes, I love my time with family.  I love to laugh with friends.  I love a great get away. I love art and creativity. I love to learn new things. There are many experiences that get me excited. That said times of deep joy seem to be connected to the beauty I see in creation that makes me stand in awe of the master designer that created it all!  Maybe that is why my favourite past times are painting and photography.  These are often also times of solitude, quiet and contemplation as I work.

This past week I was blessed to enjoy a ski day at Osler.  There I stood  on the ski hill- part of the escarpment towering over the town of Collingwood, with sweeping views over Georgian Bay.  Who could not see the majesty of God screaming as the sun glistened on the snow.

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,--
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.

For He broke it for us in a garden
Under the olive-trees
Where the angel of strength was the warden
And the soul of the world found ease.

I first saw this poem as a child- on a sign at a state park in Florida.  It resonated with me then and still does today.
Part of a larger Poem entitled God’s Garden by Dorothy Frances Gurney.  Many know the lines in the middle, but few read to the end.

I remain in His love, a state of happiness, my joy complete