Give it away

When was the last time you enjoyed something so much that you gave it away?  It could be anything.  

Recently someone said to me, "I love my church."  "What do you love about your church?"  I replied.  

"Everything!"  Was her reply.  

Being I am one of the pastors at the church, I couldn't help but to try and pat myself on the back.  Sprained my elbow in the effort.   I suppose that is what one gets when patting one's self on the back.  Anyhow. . . .

But I wondered how much do you really love this church.  Can you contain your joy?  Do you love it enough to give it away?

I do believe that too often that joy often comes with amnesia.  That bliss is often myopic.  

We forget the pain, the struggle, the loneliness that we knew before we found wholeness.  We forget too often, not always the struggle of life pre-joy.  Remembering is what we do.  By remembering we not only celebrate the joy of today, but are grateful for what we have now and have learned from the past.  

In remembering and what was, we are reminded that what we have is so blessed that we cannot contain it ourselves, but we must give it away.