Exodus 34:29-35 Psalm 99:5, 6, 7, 9 Matthew 13:44-46

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer

Today’s readings make me think of happiness, and joy, and gratitude.
Have you ever had just a great day, one of those days where everything—or everything that matters—seems right, and sometimes even better than right? Days when the sun shines, it’s not too hot or cold, and it’s just great to be alive in the world that’s been given to us?

I was thinking about these kinds of days when I read the readings for today. They are about radiance, joy, and thanks. Now, to be honest, life in the 21st century doesn’t often seem to give us abundant opportunities for joy. Sometimes we have to look for joy, and sometimes we have to look hard for it.

When we find this joy, we often seem “radiant” to others. When we are like this, as are like the people we see all the time who are often relentlessly happy, full of enjoyment of their lives and their conditions. You know the people I mean—sometimes their constant happiness is kind of irritating, especially if we encounter them on the days in which we haven’t found much joy.

Some days we’re hard put to accept the joy all around us. At such times it takes work to just leave ourselves open to joy and happiness.

Look for the joy left for us in every day. Seek it out. Leave yourself open to it. We’re intended to have it; it’s there for is. There’s no reason we can’t be as radiant, inside and out, as Moses was. The joy left for us and which can inhabit us is reflective of the pearl of great price that, when found, fills our life with happiness and love.