Samar Rainbow (Photo by Maidee Destura)
The quality of our joy depends on the spring from which it is drawn: where do we seek our joy? How does it come and go? Watch its flight as of birds … does it soar or flutter? Is it steadfast or changeable? Does it go by days, by moods, by self-love, by the adventure of circumstance?
In the main outlines the events of our lives are thus foretold to us: “you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice, and you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” The distinctive quality of Christian sorrow is that it is capable of turning into joy. A mustard seed of sorrow turns into a great tree of joy.... In Christian sorrow there is always a large share of thankfulness, of hope and of looking forward.
The joy rests on the personal action of our Lord Himself in each life. The joys and sorrows are not aimed at us from a great distance, as bolts, but He personally handles our life, adjusting it day by day to our capabilities and our correspondence. When we feel ourselves in such a Master-hand we may well be quiet and hopeful.
Prayer in Faith, pp. 104-105, 111-112