Going Home Another Way
Week 3 – The Destination
Three Magi on the Way to Bethlehem, by Hans Thoma
Discriminating Joy
“It is discrimination, the ability to choose between one good in life over another, that the liturgical year parades before our eyes over and over again, year after year, until we finally develop enough maturity of soul to tell what lasts from what pales, to discern what’s worth having from what isn’t, to now what happiness is rather than what satiety is.”1
For Reflection
This time of year, it’s easy to be numb to the simple things that give us joy. We live in a culture that celebrates excess; we’re constantly exhorted to buy more, do more, and be more. It does indeed take “maturity of soul” to see through this seductive illusion that more is always better and is necessary for us to be happy. Just for today, can you be attentive to the simple joys of Advent? It could be hearing your favorite Christmas carol, making the special cookies you or your family love, or even the joy of performing an unexpected act of kindness for a stranger.
Footnotes
- Joan Chittister, The Liturgical Year, 66. ↩︎
Falling Up After 50 