Joy fixes us to eternity and pain fixes us to time. But desire and fear hold us in bondage to time, and detachment breaks the bond. —Simone Weil
We live both in the material realm and the spiritual. In our material dimension we seek material pleasures, inherent in which is pain. Our human emotions are tied to our material attachments, and joy, at its fullest, is never found here. Real joy lies outside of the material dimension and lives fully within us in the secret, small place inside where we always know that all is well.
We are on a trip in this life. And our journey is bringing us closer to full understanding of joy with every sorrowful circumstance. When we are one with God, have aligned our will with the will of God, we know joy. We know this, fully, that all is well. No harm can befall us.
Each circumstance in the material realm is an opportunity for us to rely on the spiritual realm for direction, security, understanding. As we turn within to our spiritual nature, we will know joy.
Every day in every situation I have an opportunity to discover real joy.
It’s so close and so ready for my invitation.
Note – The Twelve & Twelve is clear that the ‘joy of living’ is the theme of Step 12. Click here for highlights from this outstanding chapter. Below is a highlight consistent with this theme of the ‘joy of living’: – Bruce M.
“When a man or a woman has a spiritual awakening , the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do , feel , and believe that which he could not do before on his unaided strength and resources alone . He has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being . He has been set on a path which tells him he is really going somewhere , that life is not a dead end , not something to be endured or mastered . In a very real sense he has been transformed , because he has laid hold of a source of strength which , in one way or another , he had hitherto denied himself . He finds himself in possession of a degree of honesty , tolerance , unselfishness , peace of mind , and love of which he had thought himself quite incapable . What he has received is a free gift , and yet usually , at least in some small part , he has made himself ready to receive it . A.A .‘ s manner of making ready to receive this gift lies in the practice of the Twelve Steps” (12&12 p. 106,107)