“I Own a House,” “I Worried,” and “Tides” all vied for tonight’s post. Even tonight, as I read a handful of her poems by streetlamp while waiting on the bridge to meet my daughter, I had a hard time narrowing down which poem to share with you for today’s devotion. I have been overwhelmed by the depth of wisdom in Oliver’s collection of poems all neatly gathered into one bound gem in Devotions. To refuse joy in times of trouble is to willingly starve in the midst of plenty, thereby depriving oneself of one of the core means of sustenance provided to enable us to persevere through such hardships. From what I’ve seen in my life and read in history, such times don’t truly exist. I don’t believe that we were made to only indulge in joy when everything arrives at some peaceful state of rest – “When the sun’s shining down on and world’s all as it should be,” to quote Matt Redman. How can I be joyful when… ? Such thinking isn’t worth a fig, to use the old idiom. In hard times, I can see how someone might shun joy’s exuberant embrace.
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