A Prayer for the Courage to Embrace Joy
Dear God,
At certain moments in the day, month and year, the beauty of your creation, the sweetness of loving others, the gift of being alive, fills my senses and I'm overcome with joy. Sometimes there is a fear that greets me right there. The fear of loss and the fear of the unknown.
May we step courageously into joy.
May we move freely in moments that are glorious.
May we smell the flowers, snuggle the loved one, breathe in that feeling of being alive.
May knowing the cycles of life and loss not prevent us from feeling this moment.
May we open our arms in gratitude for you and for all the people in our lives that are part of this joy.
May we be surprised, truly profoundly surprised, that in opening to this joy fully we also open to include the heartache.
Arms stretched wide, may we include the aching parts too
The people who have hurt us, the failures, the setbacks, even the grief and pain.
Help us hold our arms wide that our gratitude may swell to these edges we thought were untouchable.
May we realize our connection with it all, that even though we are broken and human and have pain and even cause pain...that your love is big enough, full enough, open, free and accessible enough to hold it all.
May we be brave to step into joy.
Not because our lives are perfect, not because we did anything right but because joy is there waiting to embrace us.
Amen.