finding the joy bird

sometimes we get lost. lost while driving. lost in physical storms. lost in the deeper, personal storms. lost while in love. feeling lost on spiritual journeys when we're really not lost at all, we just don't have a sense of where we're supposed to be going.

there are so many indicators for us simple beings, indicators for direction and guidance. i've always trusted that god has a delicately crafted plan for my life and i look to him for direction, for confidence, for hope. some people look for guidance in other forms and sometimes direction comes in the most surprising shapes and colors...that buzzing feeling deep inside of your gut spurring you on towards a decision or an adventure... or a song that continually rings right down within your chest, a song you can't ignore and can't be separated from because it is in you, it is part of you, it is you. i also think this song is god, his spirit and his energy moving within me, leading me towards the things i am naturally led to.

my best friend once told me that if i ever lost hold of my joyful spirit, my soul song, that she would 'backstroke through the muck to retrieve my joy bird'. i'm convinced that His song will never leave me, that though i will travel far, experience thick struggle and disappointment, maybe even feel disconnected from god, his song that is deep within me will always give me direction, will always give me a fresh breath and a a clear direction.

as humans relating to other humans, we are all connected, indefinitely. 'we are pieces of others. portraits painted between our brains and thymuses. we are the dirt we've eaten and the songs we've sung. we are the light of stars and darkness old beyond imagining. we are at once spontaneous fires & sacred water. we are faith and forgiveness'-Gerard Callahan

in looking for direction, for options, for encouragement, besides looking to the one who indefinitely supplies us with hope, joy and perseverance, restores our spirits and gives us a song to sing, we must look to those people around us who may feel equally lost and swirling in the midst of creation. we must pursue connectivity and unity to one another; we must see god within each other and remind each other of the melody should we ever forget or lose our place...

'create in me a clean heart, o god, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.do not cast me from your presence or take your holy spirit from me, but restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me' -psalm 51.10-