"The opposite of depression is not happiness, its delight"
- Richard Rolheiser
It seems the center console of my (sigh) minivan makes a dandy illustration for the mess that is my life.
crusted bowl from oatmeal breakfast on the run
someone's sock
church bulletin
Sage's pipecleaner spider
a bank deposit slip
a pen that doesn't write
half a syringe (what in all the world!?)
a clothespin (again, what?! I hug trees but don't hang up clothes.)
half a dollar
and underneath it, overhead transparencies and a stuffed horse purse (ok, mother of all what?!)
On a bad day, this mess makes me mad. Just plain mad at life for being so messy, and mad that I'm in charge of making the little people wear two socks, and mostly mad that I drive a minivan.
On a good day, this mess makes me beyond happy. Just plain delighted that those little people are mine, and we have wheels, and that I get to do this day.
Author Gregory Boyle adds this comment on that quote by Rolheiser:
"After all, we breathe in the Spirit that delights in our being.
We don't breathe in the Spirit that just sort of puts up with our mess.
Its about delight."
Now that is the Spirit I so want to breathe!