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--- jn_en_2020_01_27 [2020/01/27 05:27] – created potthast
+++ jn_en_2020_01_27 [2020/01/27 06:35] – potthast
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-====== Is God there? ... ======
+====== The Joy of Life ... ======
-Monday, Jan 27, 2020.
+Monday, Jan 27, 2020. There are a lot of things to enjoy on this planet. What is it that
+is giving you joy and excitement? Some like skying, to get into the snow in the sunlight.
+When you go down the mountains, it can be a fascinating feeling, a challenge to your
+skills, and a lot of fun at the same time.
+Some of us like to eat and to drink. And indeed, it is great to have access to a variety
+of food and drink, from Italian to Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican and other kitchen.
+Do you like green tea, or coffee, or beer, or stronger drinks? The variety of fruits
+available today in standard supermarkets and more specialized shops
+everywhere on the planet is fantastic indeed.
+What is it that lets you enjoy life?
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-**  ... **
+** Full Breadth and Depth ... **
+What is giving your life breadth and depth? What is giving it the core, that makes it
+worth to live?
+All of us have some talent, we are all gifted and can do something very well. To do it,
+usually gives us a lot of pleasure and satisfaction. Doing something well gives you
+joy. It is the thing itself, but also the perception. Some things are just useful and
+it is good to see that people enjoy it. There are other things which bring pleasure
+to people, for example when we perform a piece of music. That also can give a lot of
+pleasure.
+There are many people on this planet, and we usually sympathize with some of them.
+It is good to find company of people with similar interests, which enjoy the same things
+you enjoy. It is good to find friends and colleagues who are supportive and love
+to work constructively with you.
+It is good to enjoy good things in life. All what is God has given to us, to use it and to
+enjoy it. The bible calls us to enjoy this creation! But it also calls us to think
+beyond the mere strive for pleasure. It calls us to even think beyond mere human
+friendship and love.
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-**  ... **
+** Love in the Center ... **
+What is in the center of life? What is it that can be a strong joy to us, which is deep
+and sustainable and will never end? It is love itself. Love is the core of all what is,
+it is the core of this creation, it is the core of God himself!
+In his famous letter to the Korinthians, the apostle Paul writes about the central
+role of love for us:
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-Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
+If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
- but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
+ And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
-</color> (Isaiah 59, 1-2)
+If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
+</color> (1 Kor 13, 1-3)
+The background of these verses can be found in the character and consistence of God himself. God
+is called love. He is love himself, since he is community himself. It is the community of father,
+son and holy spirit. And this community is characterized by complete trust, complete truth,
+complete purity.
+Life needs to be filled by love, which comes from the creator. Only he is eternal, and only with
+him and in him we gain the perspective, we are made for: eternal love and friendship. Any action,
+which is not driven by love, cannot be sustained. Any relationship, which is not filled with
+love, cannot be completely good. The biblical idea is to transform our life to something
+which has love in each of its components, since it has God in it everywhere and all the time.
+God is fine with our joy about various pleasures in this world. The bible does not object good
+things, it only objects things which take the place of God. If our pleasure starts to be
+the determining center of our life, it becomes a burden to us, which will finally kill us. If
+our talent, or our friends, our our partnership, our anything else, takes the role of God,
+it has a devastating effect on us. It is stealing our life!
+There is joy beyond the superficial pleasure which we search so often. There is depth in all
+things which we do. We need to find it, to transform all our actions, our talent, our friendship
+and our relationships to what God has designed them to be. This joy is a fantastic light,
+deep, warm, clear ... and eternal! Let us find it and nurture it, day by day.
 (Roland Potthast)