SWB: The dance of joy

The world and time are the dance of the Lord
in emptiness.
The silence of the spheres is the music of
a wedding feast.

The more we persist in misunderstanding the phenomena
of life,
the more we analyze them out into strange finalities
and complex purposes of our own,
the more we involve ourselves in sadness, absurdity and despair.

But it does not matter much,
because no despair of ours can alter the
reality of things,
or stain the joy of the cosmic dance which is always
there.

Indeed we are in the midst of it,
and it is in the midst of us,
for it beats in our very blood, whether we
want it or not.

Yet the fact remains that we are invited to forget
ourselves on purpose,
cast our awful solemnity to the winds and join in the
general dance.

Excerpt from New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton

Early on Saturday morning, our dear family friend Patrick Moser died suddenly due to complications during heart surgery. Patrick was a unique, amazing, creative person and was a wonderful friend to my husband and I when we moved away from our home town early in our married days. Pat did not have an easy road, in the last several years his health problems made it necessary to retire - even though he had still so much to give to the world.

The reason I mention Patrick in this Sleeping with Bread post is that he had the wonderful ability to make the most out of life. Even more so, he was able to make millions of memories with each person he interacted with. To tell you how much we (my husband and I) loved Pat, when our son was born - we named him Nigel Patrick - in honor of Pat.

There is bread of joy available to us each moment of each day if only we take the time to recognize or help to foster it.

Where can you find joy today?

This week, even in our sorrow and loss - we have many "joyisms" to remember and share with each other thanks to Pat.

These memories of Pat are my bread today - and this bread is rich and abundant with joy!

Thank you Patrick for being such a dear friend and always encouraging us to dance the cosmic dance of joy. We love you.
For more information on Patrick's life go to his obituary here or to his website: Grumpkins.com