Daily Advent Devotional: Day 18 – Wed, Dec 16
Joy may also come from practicing kindness and/or serving others. This approach to life feeds a sense of purpose and optimism. Kindness can happen in simple, daily interactions: recognize the dignity of another person and choose compassion and courtesy in your exchanges. Likewise, you can serve others informally by being a good neighbor and caring for others with acts of thoughtfulness, or more formally by volunteering for a cause in which you believe. Such outreach can be as modest as making a meal or checking in with people by phone. It may take a more committed path as a dedicated volunteer who supports others, and should be done with balance and boundaries.
As a spiritual practice, this is an empowering approach to life. It identifies your competencies and capabilities, and reminds you that you have choices. It affirms your value and purpose as a human being and helps to acknowledge others, also.
Being kind and being of service enlarge personal perspectives. They alter the understanding of others’ circumstances, thus allowing you to recognize your own blessings. They cultivate appreciation for your own individual agency and the ability to be helpful to others. With kindness and service, through small acts or major forms of participation, you may renew your internal sense of fulfillment and joy. — Rev Gail
… for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy. — Psalm 63:7
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them … — Psalm 5:11
To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with. ― Mark Twain
The joy that isn’t shared dies young. — Anne Sexton
Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… It’s your responsibility to love it, or change it. – Chuck Palahniuk
When you can stop and ask yourself, “How can I help,” or, “How can I be of service,” you create a new internal dialogue that leads to alternative and expanded ways of thinking and responding. … You have something to offer, a gift brought into this world to share with others. It could be your ability to listen, give a great hug, advocate for those in need, build something, or be there for someone In being able to share this gift, you build a greater sense of connection and belonging, something you can relate to as a basic need. Joy is often a side effect of what can happen when you are in the service of something greater than yourself. — Rachelle Williams
Gratitude begins in our hearts and then dovetails into behavior. It almost always makes you willing to be of service, which is where the joy resides. It means that you are willing to stop being such a jerk. When you are aware of all that has been given to you, in your lifetime and the past few days, it is hard not to be humbled, and pleased to give back. — Anne Lamott
Advent Daily Devotion: Day 16 – Mon, Dec 14
Joy relies on the connection between body, mind and spirit (heart). One simple practice is to smile. Develop the habit just as you learn how to breathe more deeply or train for athletic pursuits.
When we use our facial muscles, our brains cue the body with the chemistry of the emotion we’re expressing. Smile. It helps your body relax and experience joy.
And while joy may begin inside us, we also share it. It affects other people. From behind our masks, a smile crinkles the eyes. From the other end of a phone or video chat, a smile changes the tone of voice. It alters body language. It eases tension and lightens a stressful environment.
Your smile shines a light inside you. It also lights up your corner of the world.
In fact, you don’t need another person around to smile. Smiling is beneficial in all times. Exercising those smile muscles is an excellent form of self-care, as well as a wonderful gift for others. — Rev Gail
You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore. — Psalm 16:11
While this practice helps me appreciate the power of smiling for diffusing stress … smiling when things get tough can be a challenge. Doing so, however, helps me move beyond the labeling of events as good or bad to a spiritual reality that enriches my experience of life. — Ruth Wilson
House of Joy — Rumi
If you knew yourself for even one moment,
if you could just glimpse
your most beautiful face,
maybe you wouldn’t slumber so deeply
in that house of clay.
Why not move into your house of joy
and shine into every crevice!
For you are the secret
Treasure-bearer, and always have been.
Didn’t you know?
Advent Daily Devotional, Day 9
Mon, Dec 7 – DAY 9
Peace grows out of contemplative practices. Set apart time for stillness, centering, or movement as a form of meditation or focus.
Sometimes this requires becoming motionless: holding a yoga pose, maintaining a prayer position, or observing utter silence. Sometimes it involves movement of the body such as walking or knitting, and permission to unleash a restless mind through journaling or creative expression. One way or another, we are urged to set apart time and nurture the inner spiritual being.
Along the way, we aim to develop internal equilibrium. Become comfortable knowing ourselves more deeply. Gain insight. Renew energy and creativity.
Altogether, contemplative practices strengthen the spiritual muscles upon which we draw. They create resilience and balance in our bodies, hearts and minds. — Rev Gail
The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. — Isaiah 32:17
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. — John 14:27
Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. — Saint Francis de Sales
No person, no place, and no thing has any power over us, for ‘we’ are the only thinkers in our mind. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives. —Louise Hay
Sun, Dec 6 Advent Worship: Peace
Worship service with special music, candle-lighting and message about Peace based on Matthew 1 and Isaiah 7.
JCC 120620 Light of Peace from architect on Vimeo.