As I write, we just finished the one-year mark of the pandemic. It has been a difficult year for most everyone, including me and my family. I am usually a very positive person, but this year I have found myself giving in to feelings of frustration and anger.
I am working hard to find joy again, to Choose Joy! Because joy is a choice! To quote Henri Nouwen, “Joy is not the same as happiness. We can be unhappy about many things, but joy can still be there because it comes from the knowledge of God’s love for us. . . Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God our refuge and our safety and that nothing, not even death, can take God away from us.”
We are just now beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Vaccinations and warm weather will help us to once again be able to see each other in person instead of on screens.
The promise of Easter is so close…spring is almost here! I hope you will join me in choosing joy, and let’s help each other to choose joy each day.
Also, I want to share another great joy this year has brought to me and my husband. If you have not heard of it yet there is a podcast, that is reading the entire Bible in a year. It is based on the chronological happenings in the Bible and it includes a short explanation each day after the readings. Even though some of us began on January 1, you can start your of “Bible in a Year” at any time. You can download and listen for free.
The Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz: media.ascensionpress.com/all-bible-in-a-year-episodes
Blessings,
Christine Broses
