Music Tuesday:Bradley Hathaway’s Joy

The word joy seems to be ringing in my heart lately so I thought, what better way to spend Music Tuesday than talking about joy? Not happiness. I’m talking about JOY. The type of joy that’s found deep within your soul. Your source of peace and contentment, even if things are hard or going wrong. The joy that helps you to smile in the rain and be kind to those that don’t deserve it. The joy that says “I want to make this person happy” with no expectation of receiving something back. The type of joy that many people spend their lives trying to find.

Bradley Hathaway, a writer,/poet/ singer/songwriter from Arkansas has a poem entitled “On Being Joyful and Content” that explains joy in such a great way that I’m doing my post today referencing it. You can watch/read it below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I’m ecstatic!

and my thoughts
are
uncontrollably
sporadic!

Yet centered around one center

Joy.

In plush ripe tones
joy is rushing through my bones!

If joy were a color
it would be purple
pastel
pretty

Like old women and young children
both wear on Easter

Smiling while having deviled eggs
and drinking kool-aid

Chasing blown bubbles
in the backyard

The young ones’ distracting hats
fly off…

And the old ones laugh
a contagious laughter
that is to be shared
by everyone there

The sun
shines down upon them
as all of their physical imperfections
gleam
beautifully

and inside
inside
I feel like this
and I look outside my window
and imagine the
future purple pastel pretty
moments of joy
that I will one day have with my wife.
My Children.
My friends.
My family.

I really look forward to those moments.
But I am thankful for the one
that I am having right now.
this morning.

Alone.
On my couch.

Overwhelmed by Joy.

Before I end this post, I’d like to pray for my readers. I know it’s not a common thing on my blog, but I feel led to…so I will. I hope that you will read it slowly and pray it in your heart as well.

“Dear Lord of all things – I pray for my readers. Each and everyone one of them. Whether they know you or not. I know that you know them. And I know that you believe in them. And I know that you want them to experience the type of joy that only comes from you and you alone. I pray that each one of their hearts starts to fill with this love and joy. That it builds and builds and lives within their soul. It reaches to points that they can’t touch and can’t understand. They just know that it’s there. From the first smile during a bad situation to a compassion for their enemies that they just don’t understand. I pray that we all have an increase of the joy that’s found in knowing, loving and worshiping you. Amen”