Beloved of St. Michael’s,

As I’ve sat with some of you this month and learned your stories, hopes, excitements, and fears about the year ahead (and the year just passed), I’ve been moved by the joy that weaves through this congregation. Not a superficial sort of ‘fun’—though I do know you know how to have that—but the sort of joy that permeates deep into the soul of this community. I’ve seen the joy you take in caring for one another in times of grief, the joy that passing the peace shares, the joy of relationships spanning years. I’m finding that kind of joy in meeting heart to heart with each of you.

It’s been a strange season for joy in my own life. Sometimes, it’s been hard to see where joy is living, given all of the pressures of the world. But then I see the yellow crocuses popping up their little heads in my garden, like tiny flags of hope, and remember these words from Romans 15, ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace.’

We are embraced by a God of hope, who desires for us to be filled with and to share joy. Where are you finding (or creating) joy this week? May you see signs of hope and joy everywhere.

— Jules