APRIL 22
Joy comes from simple and natural things, mists over
meadows, sunlight on leaves, the path of the moon over
water. Even rain and wind and stormy clouds bring joy, just
as knowing animals and flowers and where they live.
—SIGURD F. OLSONLet us for a few moments lay aside our grieving and notice,
as though nothing else existed, the world around us.
Of course, it’s better to do this if you can be in a lovely
place. But there are always simple things around us that
could gladden our hearts if we would let them. Children
rejoice in sunshine and rain, in puddles to walk through, in
the way light reflects off a fragment of colored glass, in the
way grass shoots up through cracks in a sidewalk. For chil-
dren, the immediate world is what calls to them, brings them
joy or sadness.
We carry our sadness with us for a long time. But let’s not
allow it to call all the shots! Let’s give ourselves a break by
taking note of the springtime—the way trees, flowers, and
bushes seem to erupt overnight, and the days lengthen, the
air grows soft, the birds come back, the rabbits reappear on
the lawn.
To allow myself to revel in simple joys will ease me into new hope,
new courage for my life.