They can't take that (Joy) away from me
Let the joy rise.
Up at the crack of dawn on Easter morning. After lingering a moment in that state between sleep and wakefulness, I compelled myself to get out of bed and cycle down to the park. The thought of the sunrise, and all the attendant meaning of this day, excited me.
It was a different salubong*, but in that exhilarating ride, catching the first light of this greatest of Sundays, I experienced a rush of giddiness and a calm contentment all at once. I found that perfect spot, by the sculpture on a hill, sunlight peeking through the trees, and a clear view was laid out before me.
For this felt like another kind of Easter, with a new story to tell--where the overriding emotion of the concluded Lenten season, was not so much the arduous suffering, but the LOVE. Jesus' love. A love so great and incomprehensible, but in the grand plan made sense of all that suffering and sacrifice. Indeed, the past weeks were a time of greater realization and a heightened awareness of His real, utmost, unconditional, selfless, beautiful and outrageous love.
After the hemming and hawing, the going back and forth, clarity found its way, as light rays growing ever brighter with the day. Through the glass, and not quite as darkly as before. There it was, a refocus on the first truth of my life, that He lived and died out of a love for me, breaking the barriers for me to come to Him and love in all freedom.
To hold on to this eternal gift, how can I not rejoice?
And from here on, no matter the circumstances, this JOY cannot be taken away. Suddenly, the title of that old standard "They Can't Take That Away from Me" brims with new meaning.
And perhaps there is a reason why I write this only now (aside from procrastination). For when the high of scaling a summit dies down and routines go back to normal, it becomes all the more precious to have this joy and believe this love down to my core. Beyond the loud praise, the invigorating intonation of "Oh Happy Day", the inspirational messages, or even the simple beauty of sunrise--when reality sets in, how do you and I proceed and respond?
Coming face-to-face with little skirmishes at the airport or even in the midst of a critical time for the family, I see God's hand at work. We do not hinge our hopes on just one happy day, but a promise of a joyful eternity to come.
“So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you...
Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
(John 16:22,24)
And this is true joy. To know that whatever it is we ask, the answer will always find its way back to Him and His Love. In His Name, we press on not in futility, but in faith, being witnesses and living in the grace of His glorious conquering of death.
Let me go back to that spot on the hill, and send out this love letter to God:
On that beautiful Easter morning, I knew then, as I know now and always will--that You love me, Lord. And that You are all I need above all. With this Love, undeserving as I remain, You ultimately saved me from my broken self.
In You, Lord, my joy is complete and unending.
*Literally "meeting", from that age-old ritual performed before the Easter Dawn mass, where in a reenactment/procession, Jesus meets his grieving Mother.