Easter, the resurrection narrative is the epitome of the joy-filled experience!
Lately, I’ve enjoyed doing some life-review and thinking about the times that I’ve experienced joy. Joy can be described as a deep internal experience of peace that many times accompanies a hardship that one carries. It feels good, often simple, yet is deep and lasts longer than pleasure.
Experiences of joy come readily to my mind when I think about the time that began in the late 70’s when I was living and ministering in Eastern KY. I worked in several capacities both as a nurse therapist and as a teacher. My time as a remedial teacher brings about joy-filled memories of the people who were participants in a sheltered workshop.
A couple of mornings they would come “to school.” Few, if any, had completed elementary school. All were dealing with cognitive and emotional issues. When I first began, it was a bit of a surprise to see how eager they were to learn. It didn’t take long for me to realize what a joy it was for them to have this opportunity.
Their van arrived ahead of me. With schoolbags in tow, they waited for me to arrive. Eager to go into the makeshift classroom, they would rush to the car and offer to carry in whatever I brought. They were thrilled to be there and so was I. Despite the many difficulties in learning, they tried their best. They particularly loved having their own reading, math and geography workbooks. Some used the answer keys to quickly go through the workbooks so they could get another! Though there were challenges, real life learning took place. Today, I can still visualize the happy expressions on their faces.
Joy is sometimes profound, usually not earth-shattering and yet is felt deep in the soul.
