A Hymn to Life's Joy

There are so many choices, under this broad sky, with the love of our Father in Heaven to guide us. We often fear which way to choose, but there are really so many ways to live our life, with so many bright and wonderful experiences awaiting us. The universe is a school, with playgrounds to lighten it.

Here, we learn values: patience, kindness, temperance and compassion. We feel good when we care for others and our conscience troubles us when we make those mistakes that matter most. We learn the value, the total reality of love; a love which fills all things with the warmth and meaning of life itself. We learn of one another, especially of how to care for another sensitive, sentient being, with needs just like our own, but at any time different ones. We learn what real happiness is and how inexorably bound up it is with consideration for others.

All of this is sweetened by millions of beautiful play-things, just as rainbows follow rain. Walking, I see flowers spread perfume into the air and bright colours across the ground: birds sing sweetly, filling the skies with delicate music. Below us, the seas hold amazing life, from sunny tropical fish to the gigantic squid of the depths- whilst above, a plethora of planets and nebulae revolve, awaiting our discovery. Truly, this is a wonderful world, in a marvellous universe. To all this, our most natural response is thankfulness, praise-

Praise of the Heavenly Father who gave us all this,
Praise of the Eternal One, who could bring forth such wonders,
Thankfulness that He, in His grace, allows us to be co-creators,
Experiencing this fantastic universe as something of ourselves.

A personal experience, this life,
A joy granted equally to myriad beings-
To wisely choose our path through so many experiences,
Back to our Eternal Father, our God in Heaven.

Amen