Jesus is happy to come with us, as truth is happy to be spoken, as life to be lived, as light to be lit, as love is to be loved, as joy to be given, as peace to be spread. ~ St. Francis of Assisi

What in life makes you happy?  What does that happiness look like? I find myself somewhat emotionally exhausted today.  The past few days have been beautiful and yet charged with feeling. I am finding the leave-taking draining. Each goodbye is a question mark. Will I see the person again or not? I read this quote on Monday afternoon, sitting quietly by my friend’s pool alone. Dear St. Francis, I thought, you really do know our brother Jesus. You also know the great joy of Life. Truth wants a home;  Life beckons us to embrace it; Light loves to extinguish the dark; Love longs to transform hearts; joy begs to shared; peace wants to journey to the ends of the earth. Jesus is happy to be invited along on these journeys. What blessings we are bestowed!

My heart is full tonight. The weekend visits were so amazing and I have so many more excellent moments to treasure with friends. I am grateful for these memories that bring a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. Tonight as I hugged another friend goodbye, we cried. I promised I would still be here for Christmas and I meant it, though I had warned myself not to make false promises to people. I do think I will be here though. I sensed I was speaking Truth.  I cannot help the tears that fill my eyes when I say goodbye to faraway friends; neither of us want to pull away from the embrace.  Love longs to be loved.  Life is happy to be lived–I agree with St. Francis.

Jesus is journeying with us on this wild adventure. He is happy to come and dance with us in the joy-filled moments and weep with us when Truth shatters the Joy.  I do not leave home without my Jesus….I can forget to pack a number of articles in my bag but if I do not take Christ with me, I will not get very far. These teary moments that shred pieces of heart are sacred. I cannot always articulate how important those people I am hugging are to me–and I feel no pressure to do so. The tears, I hope, say it all: you are loved, you are precious, you have meant so much to me, thank you, God bless you,  I love you.

Jesus is happy to be there in that sorrow and I would rather not have anyone else there with us.

Peace,

Suzanne

Reflection Questions

What are you happy to do?

Do you invite Jesus to come with you?

Prayer

Jesus, I am happy that you are happy to come with me through life. Help me to speak Truth, live life fully, love freely, shine brightly, give joy, and spread peace. Amen.