via TJC
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. - James 1:2-3
When, she found me crying, Grandma would sing "The sun will come out tomorrow - betcha bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be sun". She would laugh, but I would cry.
Then, behind her back she produced a peach and showed it to me as if it were the most amazing thing she ever saw and wanted me to have it. I remember hugging her and then we were both laughing.
She was gone by the time I understood that look on her face, as though the fact of the peach would be amazing enough to bring "joy".
Her parents showed up, here, on a boat with a suitcase. At Ellis island, they received misspelled names. Some got turned away, and others quarantined.
The streets, it was learned, were not "paved with gold". When they were young, they starved. The country fell apart. Before they could drink a beer, they went to war. Approximately 11% of the American population came home from WWII. They came back with the scars and trauma of battle. They came back well educated in using firearms for violence. One could buy a gun in many places. Yet, there were no mass shootings such as today.
What was that look of joy, the peach in her hand?
It was a look that said "Love is the answer and in this moment, what passes between us." It was a look that completely ignored everything that didn't matter, which is to say: everything except love.
...but I was too young - too dumb - to see.
It was a look of joy, knowing that the truth of living in this busted-ass world was love all along and the rest was a lie. I never got to ask her what hard fought roots dug deep into this American soil and what untold tragedies went into her faith in love as the answer. I know Jesus Christ was there.
Daily Battle Order:
The world, it seems, is a training ground. In troubled times, the Lord says to be joyful. Joy is a fruit of the spirit, a sign of faith. The Christian man who is joyful in times of trouble is certain that the Lord knows his name. He is joyful for the opportunity to grown stronger in his roots and branches. He meets trouble having already won.
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