You are my Joy

There is something about the moon that people find inspiring. We sing about it, poets speak romantic words regarding it, it's been painted, photographed, drawn, and gazed at.  Stars accent its beauty and whisper sparkling sweet nothings as the waters act as its perfect dance partner.

I started a joy collage a while ago, collecting photos online I wanted to print of things that brought me joy...when my mother's computer got hacked into and now they are hidden in a mass of files we saved before reformatting it.  Thinking about it a few days ago and wanting to finish it, I noticed my friend updated her blog with her joy list also, and this began me pondering again on what brings me true joy as I walked outside with the morning sun's rays hitting my shoulders and face.

As things begin hitting my mind...how the sun was hitting me warming me, the sound of rain and how it falls on window panes and drips off my nose, a gentle breeze and the warm smell of honeysuckle, the moon and stars, nature, trail running, hikes, John Denver songs, dancing alone like an idiot in a shirt and undies, painting, piano, symphonies, theater, museums, lace, my hands hugging a hot cup of tea where the warmth flows through and the steam squeezes out the tiny hole upon my face, cooking and creating a new healthy dish, gardening, growing and eating vegetables, a really good hug, the idea of my fingers entangled with my love, gazing in a porch swing, quilts, cuddling, making my mom's coffee in the morning, the release of myself of feelings and emotions as pain hits my fingers holding a pen upon finishing a letter...

What exactly was it that attracted me to these things, what attributes? And as I continued to walk in the morning sun it hit me, quite literally, it was Him that attracted me to all of it.

Whenever you are generally discussing art with someone, many times you will ask what is their favorite artist, what style or technique do they enjoy the most.  This is because art, especially painting, is such an emotional thing. You cannot create art without leaving a piece of yourself behind, lost within the birth of the new creation. Its the you-ness that makes art so unique.  There has been and never will be an artist like Picasso or Van Gogh or yourself.  This is also like when you have a child, there is a piece of yourself and your partner that forever goes into that child. And there will never be another child with the same characteristics.  This is what each of us are, this is what the world is, for God.

The moon in and of itself is quite cold and ugly, a gray dusty rock that spins and revolves around this world, and yet without the light from the sun reflecting upon it, we would have no idea it was there for the most part.  This is a perfect example of us!  We are each a moon, an ugly, cold, rock, that spends its time revolving around this world.  Christ is the Sun, and it is His holy light that when we reflect brings about the true beauty created within each of ourselves that the world could never reveal. 

This concept is also how I've began to look at all the creations, all of my favorite things.  As I sat outside swinging on our porch eating my raw snack veggies I realized that it was the characteristics of God and His art.  The qualities I enjoy of nature shine of Him and His love. The pieces of Himself He put in each of them.  The joy I feel as I was swinging outside gazing at our Japanese Maple, are both aspects and characteristics of Him, each one unique to the individual enjoying them. 

God used immense emotion when He created the world, when He created us.  Christ used immense emotion when He came down in the form of a man to save us all, so He could gaze upon His own artwork, His own moon, and find joy.