Joy

"Joy and peace come into our lives...
when we mind more about God than we do about ourselves,
when we realize what the things are that matter really are...

Joy's very being is lost in the great tide of selfless delight--creation's response to the infinite loving God.  But, of course, the point for us is that this selfless joy has got to go on at times when we ourselves are in the dark, obsessed by the sorrow of life, so that we feel no joy because we cannot gaze at beauty.  Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, not of our gratified emotions.  
Come, bless the Lord...
Lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the Lord."
--Evelyn Underhill
"The Soul's Delight"

It hasn't been all day, every day, but "being in the dark" and "being obsessed by the sorrow of life" has been a part of my life for several weeks now and made JOY a fair weather friend.  I desperately want to experience joy...especially now.  To somehow rise above all that continues to pull my soul downward.

My Spiritual Director says that Joy is Jesus.  So perhaps, no, for sure, I am no less filled with joy these days when my entire being is downcast, than the days when the sun dispels the darkness. 

Jesus has not left me, and I have not left Him...we abide in one another. 

Joy resides within me.