As a human in a culture that values hustle and bustle, wearing the busyness of life as a badge of honor, I feel out of place. I long for quiet, to sit and be. I want the subtle sounds of nature to wash over me with their beauty as I allow myself to ponder what the birds are chirping about. Are they talking to each other? Perhaps my local house finches are so filled with delight for the spring treasures that they are singing from the overflow of their pure joy! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pure joy\u2026when was the last time you felt pure joy and thought you would burst if you didn\u2019t express it in some way? Oh, how I long for this feeling! Is that how spring makes the trees feel when they receive the kiss of warmer days? Is that how the buds are drawn out of their cocoons, letting pure joy from the sun\u2019s rays stir and awaken them so that they must bloom? If so, then if the tree were to find itself so busy that it wasn\u2019t able to fully enjoy the newfound warmth of the changing seasons, would it find itself unable to bloom?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat ridiculous nonsense\u201d, you may say, all this pondering is: a tree is just a tree. It neither feels nor refrains from feeling; it\u2019s a tree after all. Perhaps I\u2019ve been watching too many fairy stories. But what if the nature of a tree is meant to respond with joy to the warming sun? What if, like the tree, we are intended to respond to the warmth of the Son, but are too busy to let ourselves enter into the pure joy of being present to the Son, and the pure joy our natural state brings? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I invite you to the spiritual practice of sitting in the warmth of the Son. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What would it look like to allow yourself the space to wonder with pure joy? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Would it encourage you to bloom? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
How might you find yourself suddenly full of lovely blossoms full of fragrance? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"