by Joanne Wiklund
With the world in the shape it’s in, sometimes Joy is a little hard to awaken. Personal, peaceful, productive Joy is an active verb like Love and Peace. It’s not something that just sits there in your inner being. Which it does. But it also is meant to be shared, much like love. We all know people who light up a room when they enter. Losing those people, no matter who they are, drains your joy unless you share it. That’s what Joy stands for: Jesus, Others, You!
The following is an excerpt from a Metro East column of mind that ran in the Dispatch on April 15, 1992. Sounds familiar.
Here in America, Easter this year is a little different. The churches are ready for crowds, wishing it was an every Sunday occurrence. Statistics point out more and more that the U.S. is moving away from being a “Christian” nation. Unemployment is high, people are hungry. Some people are dying of AIDS. Stress is one of the number one topics for group discussion.
So what good is Easter?
Easter is a heart condition with a difference. When Easter touches your heart, you begin to think differently. You repent of your sins, ask Jesus to come into your heart. You find there is joy in sorrow, love always and life eternal. You find people are important, people are needy and lives can be changed. You can be filled with JOY in spite of things.
By Easter? Of course. On a lonely hill called Golgotha, women found the stone rolled away and Jesus’ tomb empty. The course of history was changed forever when He arose. Easter is one “holiday” that really is a little different. It appears God is moving in the world today and people are responding to Jesus’ message.
Happy Easter and may the JOY be with you! John 3:16