I have said these things that my joy will be in you, and your joy will be complete.    John 15:11

Each day we have the opportunity, the invitation to choose between joy and negativity, to see what is missing or what is present, to speak affirmation or criticism.  We can do this without denying reality or avoiding problems, but by recognizing them, doing what we can, and then focusing on the positive.

“People who have come to know the joy of God do not deny the darkness, but they choose not to live in it.  They claim that the light that shines in the darkness can be trusted more than the darkness itself and that a little bit of light can dispel the darkness.”  Henri Nouwen,  The Return of the Prodigal Son