JOY

All Music Sunday was amazing today. It was about light -- and we ended with the song "Go Light Your World"

Carry Your Candle, run to the Darkness
Seek out the helpless, deceived and poor
Hold out your candle, for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world

We left that service full of energy and walked outside to the most gorgeous, warm spring day and it was impossible to not experience joy..... Enough to make it worth getting up again each day no matter what crap.

And I came home to awesome hugs from Leon, Ricardo, Jimmy, Sadie..... and I just know that life is truly going to give us enough joy to make up for the pain.

This was part of the service:

Four candles slowly burned. The ambiance was so soft one could almost hear them talking. The first candle said, "I am Peace. The world is full of anger and fighting. Nobody can keep me lit." Then the flame of Peace went out completely.

The the second candle said, "I am Faith. I am no longer indispensable. It doesn't make sense that I should stay lit another moment." Just then a breeze softly blew out Faith's flame. Sadly the third candle began to speak:

"I am Love! People don't understand my importance so they simply put me aside. They even forget to love those who are nearest to them. I haven' thte strength to stay lit." And waiting no longer, Love's flame went out.

But there was a fouth candle who questioned the other three: "Why aren't you burning? YOu're supposed to stay lit til the end? Don't be afraid. I am Hope. While I am still burning other candles can be relit." THen the candle of Hope shared its flame and relit the other candles.

It is very difficult now for me to be my optimistic hopeful self, but I am determined to keep my hope candle burning. Nobody can take that away....