Joy is not meant to be a crumb

“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the
case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb”.

~ Mary Oliver, Devotions. Penguin Press, NY: 2017. (pg. 61)

In hard times, one can see how it  might be easy to shun  joy. ‘How can I be joyful in this horrific, or difficult or sad reality that is here?’ Or how easy is it to be afraid of plenty, and abundance when there are so many ‘made poor’ around us?’

Joy is not made to be a crumb

It is April. The light has changed. By breathing in the Nature of things we are already part of this resurgence of life that is in our very DNA as created beings. One can smell and see and sense life emerging, as Spring unwraps into Summer.

The beauty is that it is not just something outside of us, that we can look at and notice and give thanks for.  This emergence, this glimpse of Godself given to those open to the ‘Being within being’ is Easter already manifesting itself, if we let it.

On this Lenten Journey we can remind ourselves again and again, in Mary Oliver’s words, that ‘Joy is not made to be a crumb’ we snatch now and again. It is who we are as Easter People, and it is what we have to give to those around us, seizing every simple opportunity for gratitude, and the recognition that we are more, and so are you!

We are made for more than the outside in, or inside out view of life. We are made for abundance and plenty, because the generosity of God is boundless, and we too can live this Lent endeavouring to be without boundaries, in order to manifest this generous love of God at every opportunity.

Together let us scatter the ‘crumbs of joy’ until they become a carpet under our feet!  That Joy will be the ‘ground’ we walk upon!!

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