Joy - Overflowing Inside

Beads of Joy 03-17-10

Joy - Overflowing Inside
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Lent 2010 - Day 29
Hello Everyone,

As promised today we continue reflecting on Joy. But also note that today is St. Patrick's Day, so don't forget to celebrate. Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody. NYC will be having its 249th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, which will take place today, the Parade starts on 44th Street starting at 11 am. Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day. Okay, now let's continue these reflections on Joy. Today I'd like to share how I keep the focus, the thoughts, the faith, everyday throughout the day pondering it in my mind. I never get lost in the confusion of a day's activity such that my mind and my heart drift away from thoughts of my Lord. No matter what is happening to me or around me, I thank Jesus for all that is good, I thank Him for the challenges I don't understand and I pray for the arrogance and ignorance around me throughout my day. I also pray for those I see suffering that I pass, in accidents, or ambulances, and even those in the hospitals I pass. This has become a very natural part of who I am. It's all about awareness, and it is through that awareness that the Joy inside me continues to overflow.

I seek nothing for these things, like I said to you on Monday, I want to bring you into my inner circle of Joy, so that you to can experience the overwhelming overflowing abundance of Joy I experience everyday. I also pray that you are inspired to maybe change your daily lives; so that your everyday is much more focused on Jesus. I realize that still many of you might not understand the high energy and excitement of the entire thought being all wrapped up in Jesus. So I'd like to help you better understand the Joy. Let's say you were to plan an extravagant vacation to the one place you've always wanted to go. And this trip would be for as long as you wish, and there was no limit on what you can do while you were at this place and you'd have a blank check to basically spend whatever you needed while you were there. But there were a few things you needed to do to prepare before heading out. But realized that the excitement and joy that was ahead will be well worth the few things required, and that in doing them, you gladly did them !! You see where I am going with this.

This journey through life now, is for that vacation to where we want to go (Heaven), and there are some things our Lord asks of us in preparation of being able to go (Confession, Adoration, Mass, Fellowship, Drawing others to Him, and so much more). Now place that overwhelming Joy into your mind and heart thinking about the prior example of that extravagant vacation, and you will begin to see and understand how I can maintain such a super high level of ecstatic Joy all the time. My mind and heart have tunnel vision for God, our eternity and all that God has truly given to us in this life. There is so much here on planet earth that we can complain about, be unhappy with and never find Joy in. But with that being said, we also have so much to be thankful and grateful for. Just having all that Jesus gave us in Him dying for us, is worth more than virtually everything else put together. And I got to tell you, just saying that, thinking that and then typing that further builds up the Joy I already have in my life.

You to can have all this super high level, overwhelmingly exciting Joy in your life. Just keep Jesus as your main brain, heart and soul focus. Love Him above everyone and everything everyday. Tomorrow I will dig even deeper into ways that you can have such an exciting experience in this life. I will tell you guys my life isn't all peaches and purple dinosaurs. OK, LOL. See I made you smile. We all face challenges, and losses and heartbreaks, we all do, we wouldn't be human if we didn't. Life was never promised to be some perfect cup of tea. The real world kicks in the minute we take our first breathe, so buckle up and hang on. LOL. Jesus needs to be our co-pilot, our wing man, our coach, our lawyer, our doctor, our defensive end, our offensive end. He needs to be entwined in our lives in such that nothing in our life avoids Him. Once we can establish that thought, it does get rather easy, tomorrow I will share so much more about that.

Today's Challenge: Write down the activities you have everyday in your life. (eg. work, school, volunteer, whatever) next to them honestly write down what or who is the absolute center focus during those times, consciously or subconsciously. If they aren't Jesus or God or Our Blessed Mother, then you need to change it. For me, staying focused on Jesus all the time makes all things good, no matter what I am doing.


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO