Pastor’s Corner: Embrace Your Joy

May 5, 2021

This is not a new thing for me to say. I’m sure you’ve heard me say it (or read me write it) many times before. During the last year I’ve probably said it more often than in prior years, but then, in this last year we’ve had great need of it.

Embrace your joy.

We don’t need to be reminded that life is brief and that sorrow is a frequent visitor. We don’t need to be reminded of disappointments and failures. We certainly don’t need to be reminded that we have lived under tremendous strain for over a year and that the strain is only slowly relaxing its hold on us.

We might need to be reminded to make our vaccine appointments, but I digress…

We know all that. We also know, but need to be reminded, that life includes warmth and freshness. We know, but need to be reminded, that life includes successes and unanticipated gifts. We know, but need to be reminded, that amidst the strain we have endured. We still live – in such times, that is a statement to celebrate.

Christ lives, too, despite the efforts of the fearful and powerful to keep him in his grave. God has declared in no uncertain terms that brevity, sorrow, disappointment, failure, strain, and even death are not the final powers. The Holy Spirit has come to us in wisdom and in power.

These are great things to rejoice in, as are the daily and precious blessings of life: the sight of a child’s smile. The feel of ocean spray. The scent of the wind through pines. The melodies of birdsong. The flavor of sweet mango.

The reality of aloha – friends, spouses, family – that surrounds us almost without our awareness.

Embrace your joy, friends.

With aloha,

Pastor Eric

Photo by Eric Anderson