Tag Archives: joy

The Pressure to Feel Merry

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(Excerpt from The Madcap Christian Scientist’s Christmas Book)

It has been a challenging month for a lot of people. Yesterday when I was running around, doing last minute Christmas shopping, I ran into three friends who teared-up when I asked them how they were doing – one had lost a husband not long ago, the second had lost her mom, the third her dad.  The husband of a fourth friend is going through medical treatment for cancer. And then there is the tragedy of Newtown, Connecticut.

It just might be that some of us are not inclined to feel all jolly-cheery right now.

And I’m here to tell you, if you are one of those folks – it is alright. It’s okay to feel whatever it is you’re feeling.  There’s no need or reason to judge your feelings, or to try to force them to be what they’re not. That’s just silly.

At Christmas there’s a lot of pressure on people to feel “The Christmas Spirit.” No one wants to be the Christmas Scrooge.  I think we all want to share in the spirit of joy and generosity and hope.  But pressuring ourselves to be happy, trying to force ourselves to be jolly, is maybe not the best way to get there.  Then it becomes a battle, rather than a natural unfolding.

Here’s the good news: There’s no law that says we can’t feel the Christmas spirit on December 26th, or December 27th, or March 1st – we‘re not limited to feeling joy, generosity, and hope on this one day a year.  So even if, this year, we just can’t seem to get there on December 25th, we still have the opportunity to feel the spirit whenever or wherever it unfolds for us.

And here’s another bit of good news that I’ve discovered in my own adventures with sadness and grief: I have found that it is possible to be happy even when you’re sad. Which. Yeah, I know that sounds kind of weird, doesn’t it? But it’s true!

May joy settle upon you gently, moment by moment – may you catch it in the playful grin on a child’s face, in the uplift that comes from Beethoven’s Joy, in the smell of something good baking in the oven, in the hug from a friend – may you relax and enjoy those moments for what they are, and what they give you.  And may any pressure you feel to somehow make those moments bigger, or brighter, or louder ease and lift from you.

The_Madcap_Christian_Cover_for_Kindle (6)

That Whole “Choose Joy” Thing

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There was a year in my early fifties when joy did not come easily to me. You know that whole “choose joy” thing? Yeah, speaking as someone who went through a year when joy wasn’t something I felt I could choose, let me assure you that to tell someone who’s struggling with depression that she just needs to “choose joy” isn’t going to be very helpful to that person. To tell someone that you love her, that she has purpose, that she’s needed, to ask her to go on walks with you, and to listen to her without judgment and condemnation – but with unconditional love – these are all helpful things. But to tell her to “choose joy”? Not so much.

Karen

“If Christian healing is abused by mere smatterers in Science, it becomes a tedious mischief-maker. Instead of scientifically effecting a cure, it starts a petty crossfire over every cripple and invalid, buffeting them with the superficial and cold assertion, ‘Nothing ails you.'”
– Mary Baker Eddy

A Tourist Going Through Life

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The oldest son asked, “Mom, do you feel like a tourist going through life?” I thought about it for a second – and the idea of it made me smile. I told him yeah, I do. And then I asked him why he’d asked. He said because I always seem to be so happy wherever I am – taking pictures and exploring and checking things out. I think this is one of the nicest things anybody has ever said to me.

 

Two Eagles in Skagit County (photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell)
Mount Rainier (photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell)
Marmot on Mount Rainier (photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell)
Pinnacle Peak in Mount Rainier National Park. Photo from the Plummer Peak trail. (Karen Molenaar Terrell)
Trumpeter Swans in Bow, WA (photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell)
Heron Head (photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell)
Snow geese in Skagit County, WA. Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell
Clara and her tail.
Shuksan Reflection
grebe
Mama Robin and babies on our porch. (Karen Molenaar Terrell)
sailboarder on Lake Michigan – photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell
Plane’s wing in sunset – photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell
Chuckanut Boulders. (Karen Molenaar Terrell)
Rainbow of sea creatures. (Karen Molenaar Terrell)
Otter Party (Karen Molenaar Terrell)

 

The Sunflower That Wouldn’t Give Up

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So a couple months ago I noticed an interesting development in the little flower box I have on my deck…

sunflower in box

I knew I couldn’t transplant her without hurting her, so I kept her watered and awaited further developments.

And she grew. And grew. and grew.
sunflower in box

And today she shone her intrepid golden glory out on a world of smoke, and filled it with her plucky joy…

Nature voices natural, spiritual law and divine Love, but human belief misinterprets nature. Arctic regions, sunny tropics, giant hills, winged winds, mighty billows, verdant vales, festive flowers, and glorious heavens, – all point to Mind, the spiritual intelligence they reflect. The floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity.
– Mary Baker Eddy

 

Love’s Day

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Good morning, sunshine!

arise and shine

Green pastures are before me,
Which yet I have not seen;
Bright skies will soon be o’er me,
Where darkest clouds have been.
My hope I cannot measure,
My path in life is free;
My Father has my treasure,
And He will walk with me.
– Anna L. Waring (Hymn #148, Christian Science Hymnal)

Easter Gladness

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Easter 2

Took an early morning walk and when I stepped out of the house I found myself totally immersed in birdsong, and the smells of blossoms and new green growing things. Started singing the Easter song to myself (with words by Frances Thompson Hill): “Let us sing of Easter gladness that rejoices every day. Sing of hope and faith uplifted, Love has rolled the stone away…” And as I got to that part in the song there was a break in the clouds, and the sunshine landed on my face – warm and reassuring – a blessing, a benediction…

        Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts! Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of human hope and faith, and through the revelation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to possible at-one-ment with the spiritual idea of man.
– Mary Baker Eddy

***

I’m thinking about the stone that Love has been rolling away from my heart over the years – the ego, blame, self-will, guilt, fear, anger, selfishness, sense of being “put upon” and treated unfairly – and, though there’s still more stone-rolling needed in my consciousness, I’m so very grateful for the progress so far – so grateful for the light that’s reached me – so very glad to be alive – to be able to experience the birdsong and blossoms and sunshine of an Easter morning.

And here’s a cool thing – hope, renewal, love, joy – those things don’t need to be limited to some traditional church holiday, do they? Haleleujah, brothers and sisters! 🙂  We can have the glory of an Easter morning EVERY day…

…Every day will be an Easter 
Filled with benedictions new.
– Frances Thompson Hill

(Post originally published on April 20, 2014)

Go out there and work your magic!

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My dear Humoristian hooligans-

If ever the world needed your kind-hearted sass and your good-natured love of humanity it is now. We are living in interesting times, for sure – but you were made for these times – and the world needs what you have to offer. May your love and courage touch and uplift all you meet today. May your sense of humor lighten the burden of those who are athirst for joy in a desert of responsibility and solemnity. May your smile be contagious, and your joy transforming.

Go out there and work your magic!
Karen

Creature of Joy

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choose-joy-4

Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.
– Mary Baker Eddy

…joy cannot be turned into sorrow, for sorrow is not the master of joy…
– Mary Baker Eddy

 

 

Unrepentant Joy

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So I’ve been feeling kind of guilty because I’ve got this joy just bubbling up inside me right now – there’re big, fat snowflakes falling gently outside my window, and Christmas tree lights twinkling on the tree, and birds snacking at the birdfeeder, and a cat sitting in the window watching it all, and Burl Ives is singing “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…” – and this moment is just so perfect and beautiful! But I know there are also a lot of really horrible things happening in the world right now – cruelty and murder and corruption and greed and pollution and starvation – and so I’ve been sitting here wondering if it’s right for me to feel happy.

And… so what I’m thinking is… how is being unhappy going to feed starving children or shelter the homeless? And how is surrendering my joy to bullies and bigots and busybodies going to help end bullying and bigotry and busybodying?

So. Yeah. I guess I’m going to let go of the guilt. I am going to be shameless about my joy. Incorrigible. Irrepressible. Unrepentant. And I ain’t apologizing.

“Be happy at all times and in all places; for remember it is right and a duty you owe to yourself and to your God to retain the right, no matter how loudly the senses scream.”
– Edward A. Kimball

Cat Looking out Window

These Moments

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I know these moments don’t sound like big deals in the whole scheme of things – but – they mean something to me.

Today I went into the Safeway in Anacortes to get a mocha at the Starbucks there. After I got in the store I thought I should get some flour for pie-making. On the way to the flour I thought this might be a good time to get the cranberry sauce, too. Also dinner rolls. And sweet potatoes. Of course I hadn’t picked up a basket on my way in, because I thought I was just going to get a mocha, right? – so now I’m standing in a long Thanksgiving grocery-shopping line with my arms full. My arms are starting to get tired. Suddenly this young man appears – he doesn’t work at Safeway, he’s just another customer like myself – and he says, “I thought maybe you could use a basket” and hands me a basket to put all my stuff in. And I thank him profusely and take the basket and he smiles and goes on his way. People going out of their way to be kind to other people just tickles me. 🙂 And, maybe it’s my imagination, but it seems like people have been making more of an effort to show kindness in the last couple weeks.

So when I’d come into Safeway there was a musician playing a banjo out front and I’d planned on giving him a tip – but now I saw him packing up – so before I bought my mocha I went out to put a buck in his banjo case – and he smiled and thanked me and I asked him if he’d like a coffee – and he said no, he was fine, but thanked me for the offer, and wished me a happy Thanksgiving.

I went back in the store to get my mocha – the original reason I’d come to Safeway in the first place – and the coffee machine wasn’t working. But it didn’t matter! I was meant to go in there today. 🙂

On the way back from Anacortes I suddenly got it in my noggin to stop off at the dike for a quick walk. There was only one other car there – a man and his corgi were about ten yards ahead of me on the trail. As soon as I stepped onto the path the corgi turned around and started running back to me – a big friendly grin on his face – like I was an old friend and he was just so happy to see me! So I reached out and petted him and his human called him back and he took one last look at me and then went back to his human and they went around a bend in the path. I walked along a little longer, and suddenly the dog came racing around the bend and ran back to me again – just had to give me one more greeting. I love happy dogs who see a new friend in every person they encounter.

And then that song came into my head – “My life flows on in endless song, above earth’s lamentation…” and I was just filled with such joy to be alive.

That is all. Carry on then…
Karen

Padilla Bay Dike (photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell)
Padilla Bay Dike (photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell)