Again I Say Rejoice

It isn't too often you see a man jump for sheer joy, I mean, really jump! A good friend and coworker of mine had lost his wallet a few weeks ago on a spiritual formation retreat. Needless to say his attitude was quite dismal and I'm not quite sure if he ever ended up enjoying any of the weekend. Throughout the next few weeks nothing seemed to go right for the man. He had to get a new license, credit card, and wallet and in the meantime his computer crashed.

In all respects, he had a pretty good reason to be upset.

I had been having a rough few weeks as well, so the overall mood of our staff was dwindling. This past weekend we went back to the same place he lost his wallet, this time for a staff retreat (I guess you can say I am pretty used to retreats.) After a busy night and a difficult night's sleep, came the moment of joy. He had retraced his steps that he took three weeks ago and found his wallet and all of its contents safely where he had left it before!

I heard a disturbance and walked outside just in time to witness this man bursting out of the door, jumping and shouting for joy. What a sight! Not only was this comical but it made me smile, a lot bigger than I had in a long time with true joy. True joy that I shared with him when it wasn't even my wallet that was lost. Which reminds me of a parable told by Jesus in Luke 15.

The woman lost one of her coins and searched endlessly until she found it. When she did, she called her friends over to rejoice with her because what had worth had been lost but was now found.

Isn't this a perfect picture of the Spirit of the Lord at work? It is the Spirit that stirs in the lost souls of men to bring them to the light where they are found. And as we are told, the angels sing with much rejoicing. That same Spirit of Joy lives inside of me and my friend which explains why we can feel each other's joy and celebrate with each other (and that we did!)

In retrospect it was my reliance on my own power and disconnect from the Spirit of Joy that caused my sorrow and pain. It was his disconnect from his possessions that was causing him sorrow and pain. Together we found what we were really looking for: a Spirit of Joy.