Today we are having our monthly Reflection Group and the Chapter we will use to at least start our reflection after our supper together and quiet prayer is on both joy and suffering. I think it is true that our lives are full of both, but Jesus wants to share His risen joy with us so we look at the suffering in our own lives and in the world today but we also look at the joy we have each day in the gift of life. God wants us to be happy even in the midst of the pain around us and perhaps in us. We need to be conscious that we are a mixture of both joy and sorrow. This Chapter mentions that we are very much influenced by those who have gone before us and I think this is true. There is the suggestion to take some relative who may have been dead even before we really knew him or her and light a candle and sit each evening and talk to the person; try to get to know the grandmother who may have died years before you were even born. The relative you choose may help you in ways you cannot imagine. Now, I have not yet tried this and one is supposed to spend about twenty minutes each evening for two weeks talking with the relative chosen and I am not sure I will do it just now, but it is fascinating and I suspect I want to try it. I think it would be easiest with my mother as I still find myself talking with her when I wake up at night sometimes. On the other hand, I do spend more than twenty minutes with Jesus each evening and I know He is a tremendous influence in my life - He is the reason I am who I am and He knows me better than I know myself!
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