JOY: Finding Deep Gladness in The Ordinary

Sunday Awe

I remember a hot, sunny summer day during college. I had taken a job pulling weeds in someone’s yard. I was sweaty, dirty, and thoroughly miserable. Then a verse from Colossians came to mind: “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17). I decided, in that moment, to be grateful for the work. With every weed I pulled, I offered it up as an act of devotion. I still remember that day—not for the heat or the labor—but because it had such a profound effect on my state of being. Misery turned into joy.

The Declaration of Independence proclaims our right to “the pursuit of happiness.” But happiness and joy are not the same. Happiness is based on what happens, on happenstance. It waxes and wanes with the tides of life. Joy, however, is deeper. It is the soul’s quiet confidence that all is well—or will be well—even in the midst of unhappy circumstances. It is a deep sense of well-being and peace in the middle of turmoil.

We are told that Jesus, “for the joy set before him, endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). How could joy exist alongside suffering? And yet, it did.

Horatio Spafford experienced this paradox profoundly. After losing all his assets in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, he suffered an even greater tragedy when his four daughters drowned in an ocean liner accident two years later. Sailing to join his grieving wife in Wales, he passed over the spot where his daughters had died and wrote the enduring hymn, “It Is Well with My Soul.” How could someone utter those words amidst such heartbreak?

The answer lies in the nature of joy. If we cannot find joy in the ordinary, the mundane—in dishes washed, emails sent, or weeds pulled—how will we experience it in the midst of suffering? Joy, in its truest form, is not a response to life’s conditions. It is a condition of the soul—anchored not in what happens, but in who we are and in whose we are.

Joy is the fruit of knowing we are beloved. It arises from our identity as children of God, held and cherished even when the world feels uncertain or painful. When we are rooted in this truth, the storms of life may buffet us, but they do not define us or determine our inner state.

Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven as being within us. The Kingdom is a state of being from which flows joy, like a river of living water. Living in the Kingdom is living in joy and in AWE: becoming Aware of the divine within and around us, taking a mental position of Wonder, as opposed to judgement or analysis, and taking time to Enjoy the moment.

This is a spiritual practice available to anyone, anywhere, at any time. With intention and repetition, it becomes a way of life. When we live in AWE, even the ordinary becomes radiant. Joy sprouts unexpectedly, like a flower blooming in dry soil—life breaking forth from the depths of Spirit within us.

In the end, joy is not so much something we find as something that finds us—when we are awake enough to notice it hiding in plain sight.

Monday Awe: Joy in the Present Moment

• Henri Nouwen: “Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved.” (Life of the Beloved)
• Thomas Merton: “True joy is not in extraordinary events but in the quiet assurance of God’s love.” (New Seeds of Contemplation)
• Rumi: “When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” (The Essential Rumi)
• The Dhammapada 197: “Joy is the natural state of the wise, who live with compassion and understanding.”
• Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (NIV)

Question to Ponder: How can you find joy in the present moment?

Action to Take: Take time today to pause, breathe, and find joy in something ordinary.

Tuesday Awe: Joy as a Gift from God

• St. Teresa of Ávila: “The soul that is filled with joy is a soul that has found God.” (Interior Castle)
• Julian of Norwich: “The fullness of joy is found in the knowledge that all shall be well.” (Revelations of Divine Love)
• Rabindranath Tagore: “Joy is the song of the heart that recognizes the divine in all things.” (Gitanjali)
• Tao Te Ching 33: “He who finds joy within himself is truly wise and free.”
• Psalm 16:11: “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.” (NIV)

Question to Ponder: How does God’s presence fill you with joy?

Action to Take: Spend time in prayer or reflection, thanking God for His gifts of joy.

Wednesday Awe: Joy in Simplicity

• St. Francis of Assisi: “It is in living simply that the heart finds its greatest joy.” (Sayings of St. Francis)
• Simone Weil: “The simple things hold infinite beauty and the promise of joy.” (Gravity and Grace)
• Leo Tolstoy: “There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth. (War and Peace, 1869)
• The Upanishads 3.6.5: “In simplicity, the soul discovers the eternal joy of the Self.”
• Matthew 6:25-26: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life… Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” (NIV)

Question to Ponder: How can you simplify your life to experience more joy?

Action to Take: Choose one area of your life to simplify.

Thursday Awe: Joy Amid Suffering

• St. John of the Cross: “In suffering, the soul finds its greatest joy, for it is drawn closer to God.” (The Dark Night of the Soul)
• Thomas Aquinas: “The joy of the Lord strengthens the soul, even in the midst of trials.” (Summa Theologica)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “True joy comes from knowing that God is present, even in our darkest moments.” (Letters and Papers from Prison)
• Tagore: “The soul’s joy is like a star, shining brightest in the darkest night.” (Gitanjali)
• Bhagavad Gita 2:14: “Pleasure and pain come and go; endure them both, for they lead to eternal joy.”
• James 1:2-3: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” (NIV)

Question to Ponder: How can joy coexist with suffering in your life?

Action to Take: Reflect on a time when you found joy during hardship and give thanks.

Friday Awe: Joy as a Reflection of God

• St. Irenaeus: “The glory of God is man fully alive, and joy is its greatest reflection.” (Against Heresies)
• Julian of Norwich: “God is the ground of our joy, for in Him, all is love and all is well.” (Revelations of Divine Love)
• Albert Einstein: “Joy is in the mystery of discovery, for it reflects the beauty of creation.” (Ideas and Opinions)
• Rumi: “When you are joyful, you reflect the face of the Beloved.” (The Essential Rumi)
• Rig Veda 10.129.4: “The soul that rejoices is one with the eternal, singing the song of creation.”
• Nehemiah 8:10: “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (NIV)

Question to Ponder: How does your joy reflect God’s presence in your life?

Action to Take: Share your joy with someone today as a reflection of God’s love.

Saturday Awe: Joy: Finding Deep Gladness in the Ordinary

• Henri Nouwen: “Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved.” (Life of the Beloved)
• Julian of Norwich: “The fullness of joy is found in the knowledge that all shall be well.” (Revelations of Divine Love)
• St. Francis of Assisi: “It is in living simply that the heart finds its greatest joy.” (Sayings of St. Francis)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “True joy comes from knowing that God is present, even in our darkest moments.” (Letters and Papers from Prison)
• Rig Veda 10.129.4: “The soul that rejoices is one with the eternal, singing the song of creation.”
• Psalm 16:11: “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.” (NIV)

Question to Ponder: How do you find joy in the mundane, the ordinary?

Action to Take: Be in AWE: become AWARE, WONDER, ENJOY.