"Playfulness, like wonder, is one of the childlike qualities we tend to lose as we grow up." This quote from Albert Nolan is true, but it is a sad truth.
Joy and playfulness are also signs of the Holy Spirit. Saints are joyful and joy attracts others. John Maine says that "we learn to be joyful only because we have learned not to possess, not to want to possess."
I think joy also implies trust. I have the image of a laughing two-year old; I watched him last Sunday climbing up on a cement platform and then jumping off into the arms of his father. This was repeated over and over with the same cries of glee! The toddler was full of joy and so was the father who kept catching him.
"Joy is the echo of God's life in us!" That quote from Dom Marmion means much to me as I find it is true in my own life. Real joy comes from the Holy Spirit. Mother Stuart said that "Joy is the song of the spirit under the pressure of happiness." May the coming of the Holy Spirit this Pentecost fill us with both joy and playfulness!
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