Monday, Fourth Week of Lent

Joy is Hidden in Sorrow, Sorrow in Joy

When you look at this picture you see some lines and not much color.   Yet I tell you that in that picture there are lines that look a bit like a heart, a sailboat, a cross and a fish.

Here... try this one.

Now you can probably see the heart, the sailboat the cross and the fish.  They are in the first image as well, but you didn't know what you were looking for so you couldn't see them.

Now think about what Nouwen said in today's reading:

"Joy and sorrow are never separated.  When our hearts rejoice at a spectacular view, we may miss our friends who cannot see it, and when we are overwhelmed with grief, we may discover what true friendship is all about.  Joy is hidden in sorrow and sorrow in joy. "

Once you experience joy and sorrow (or pleasure and pain, or life and death) you can appreciate the mysterious ways that contrasting experiences are often hidden in every significant moment.   When you experience one of the "superlative" moments, when something intensive or expansive is occurring, you probably don't need to look too far to see its opposite.  But we don't need to wait until something monumental occurs to see the contrasts -- they are in the small joys and the tender bitter/sweet moments as well.

"If we try to avoid sorrow at all costs, we may never taste joy, and if we are suspicious of ecstasy, agony can never reach us either.  Joy and sorrow are the parents of our spiritual growth."

Spiritually mature people live all aspects of life to their fullest measure.  They see joy in sorrow, and sorrow in joy.  That is one way that lives are enriched, and profoundly complete.

Prayer:  Help me to embrace my joys as well as my sorrows in all of their fullness.