3.Jul.2010 at 3 | admin
JOY
Many of us today live in joyless discipline. We spend long hours doing work we don’t enjoy in dreary offices where any form of play is sternly prohibited as unproductive. We have been influenced to see people as worthy only to the extent that they are useful and productive. Even our leisure activities are carefully planned and organised to achieve as much as possible. No wonder we are ill, depressed and burnt out.
We ask ourselves: for what purpose am I here? Am I useful? Can I make myself useful? If we see the meaning of life only in being useful, we come before a crisis when we encounter illness, loss and mourning. Everything, including ourselves, then seems useless.
We need to change the way we think about God, his creation and ourselves. God did not have to create us to complete Himself, or to perform a task that He needed us to do. He joyfully brought Creation into existence as an extension of Himself. Let’s call it a playful celebration, which we are invited to be a part of. We were created to live joyfully in Him; in being aware of Him; in constant communication with Him.
You are a part of the Creator God, you share in his nature and his glory and are free to enjoy his presence.
Read again what God said about you; about who you are.
Resources:
Jürgen Moltmann 1971. Theology and Joy. London: SCM Press Ltd.
