Joy
Today I surrender.
At last,
my silent friend
and inscrutable companion,
you
have made it
abundantly clear
that Joy
has nothing to do
with getting
what I want.
That Joy
is no mere
vanilla flavored
emotion
but the unreasonable Fire
of Love
the Fire that made me
heart soul mind body
as it makes
everyone and
everything
even -
or perhaps
especially -
the passageway
called Death.
And so in the heat
of the day
and the cold
of night
I consecrate myself
to Joy.
In grief
and in loss
in giving
and cherishing
and in all the human acts
that open me
to pain
and pleasure
I consecrate myself
to joy.
For you
in your happiness
and your heartbreak
I consecrate myself
and you
both of us together
and the whole
of the vast
and sacred world
to immortal joy.
In hurt and anger
in fear and loneliness
in the labyrinths
of hell
I abandon myself
and consecrate myself
to the deep
immortal joy
that is
the creative Purpose
of all Life
final and unending.
In laughter and in sorrow
in old age and ignominy
in ignorance and judgment
and in the ridiculousness
of my false hopes
I consecrate myself
to Joy!
