Today let’s spread the joy.

I know that on Tuesday I wrote that the most lasting joy comes from Jesus’ death and resurrection. However, joy from lesser events can be expanded, and last longer if we share it with others.
Sharing details about lesser joy opens the people we meet to the possibility of building a relationship with us. It’s like small talk. Even with our closest friends we start by catching up on the recent past before we get into deep topics.
If you overhear someone speaking with delight and enthusiasm, doesn’t that experience lighten your own emotion, even momentarily? I know encountering a grouch will do the opposite for me, and quickly, if I’m not alert. Our susceptibility to others’ emotions is why scripture tells us to rejoice with those who rejoice.

Are you becoming cynical about selfies and social media posts?

Try seeing them differently. You might not know the poster with deep intimacy, but someone does, and what your mind interprets as bragging and fakery could really be someone’s way of saying today let’s spread the joy.
I believe that sharing rejoicing is also behind passages in Exodus and Psalms which at first glance look like history lessons. Remembering past good things fosters hope that we’ll see more good in the future.
I remember the joy and thanksgiving I felt when I learned my second nephew showed no signs of cancer, and no longer needed chemotherapy.
I whooped with joy when my favorite college English professor told me I’d won a national poetry contest, and that my entry would appear in a magazine.
I remember my horror when I discovered I’d lost a business card organizer containing collected cards from editors, agents and new writer acquaintances. I backtracked my way through the hotel, and the mall across the street, all the while praying no one would find those cards and use them to send the people inappropriate material. Someone saw the organizer, took it to Lost and Found, and the lunch hostess returned it to me. Instant Joy. Some call the result luck or good fortune, but I call it Providence.

Now it’s your turn.

What moments of well-being prompted you to spread the joy? What successes? What provisions trigger your joyous memories? Unless you tell me, how can I share your joy?

---

If you’ve ever been curious about Heidi’s fiction, there are links to short stories and an anthology on this page.