Thursday, September 23, 2021https://kuc.org/wp-content/uploads/joy-08.jpg

Katie Snipes Lancaster

Scripture
I pray that,
according to the riches
of Christ’s glory,
Christ may grant that
you may be strengthened
in your inner being
with power through Christ’s Spirit.
Ephesians 3:16

A Look at Joy
Pay close attention to your mean thoughts.

That sourness may be a blessing,
as an overcast day brings rain for the roses
and relief to dry soil.

Don’t look so sourly on your sourness!
It may be it’s carrying what you most deeply need
and want. What seems to be keeping you from joy
may be what leads you to joy.

Don’t call it a dead branch.
Call it the live, moist root.

Don’t always be waiting to see
what’s behind it. That wait and see
poisons your Spirit.

Reach for it.
Hold your meanness to your chest
as a healing root,
and be through with waiting.

(“Eyes-Shut Facing Eyes-Rolling-Around” [excerpt] by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, from Delicious Laughter: Rambunctious Teaching Stories from the Mathnawi of Jelaluddin Rumi, edited and translated from the original Persian by Coleman Barks.)

Prayer
God,
in the mud we feel stuck.
Instead, let this mud be the place
where roots grow, grounding us.
May some new joy sprout.
Amen.