“Rejecting joy to stand in the solidarity with the suffering doesn’t rescue the suffering. The converse does. The brave who focus on all things beautiful and all things true, even in the small, who give thanks for it and discover joy even in the here and now, they are the change agents who bring fullest light to all the world.” ~Ann Voskamp
I love this woman. Every word that drips from her pen is ripe with sweet truth.
I’ve read words of hers where she talks about how cynicism, despite it’s “supposed sophistication”, is actually simplicity: it’s easier. She points out how it is much more profound to choose to see what is beautiful. Here, she urges the same. We have grown up to learn a message of turning away from the ugly in our world, or drowning in the hysteria of the news. We focus on all things bad, all things evil, all things wrong – and what good does it do? Does it help us to stand in the solidarity with the suffering?
To choose to see beauty in the midst of the marred world and to choose to believe in goodness and see through the ugliness – now that is courageous! In my own life, I know joy heals. The joyous are the ones who light up rooms, lift heavy hearts, draw dark clouded people nearer until clouds lift and sight becomes clear. The joyful are FULL, and they bring life-saving sustenance to the world around them!
Cassandra Santy 