To shed joy, to radiate happiness, to cast light upon dark days, to be the golden thread of our destiny, the spirit of grace and harmony - is not this to render a service? Here and there we meet one who possesses the power of enchanting all about her; her presence lights up the house, her approach is like a cheering warmth; she passes by, and we are content; she stays a while, and we are happy. She is the Aurora with a human face. Is it not a thing divine to have a smile which, none know how, has the power to lighten the weight of that enormous chain which all in common drag behind them?
- Victor Hugo
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
- Gal. 5:22-23
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
- 1 John 4:10-11
Spring always does something to me. When the warm wind blows from the south like a "wave of unreasonable happiness" and a green blush is resurrected on earth's face in a creaturely imitation of its risen Creator, I feel the irresistible magnetism of an entire hemisphere engaged in a vivacious act of wild revelry: the JOY of LIFE. It comes like a thief in the night, not to kill but to resuscitate and say, "It's good to be home!"
The rain leaves puddles of sky in the roads, like celestial confetti, so that the dark silhouette of terra firma seems but a crust sandwiched between the fire-lit skies of two different worlds above and below my feet, and the flaming sky-filled potholes become portals betwixt the two. I walk home balanced on the crust, the purple shadows emitting a backdrop of peace, and the sun's last rays setting the windows of home ablaze in a passion. As the sunset changes hues, the curlews whirl overhead with their woodwind song, the ground releases its deep earthy notes, and the spring peepers strike up a chorus, all to remind the world that it's really alive, to feel the blood and breath inside and BE JOYOUSLY ALIVE.
