We live delightfully close to one of the most amazing Zoo’s in the country. By the time we get parked and through the gates the children, positively wound like springs, burst down the path with leaps of energy and laughter. The weather accommodates, or perhaps encourages our moods, with the brilliance of sunshine and cool breezes. The sky wears brilliant azure with no clouds anywhere for miles.
I see the carousel and I think, this time, we might ride. We never do, but today, it just seems wrong not to.
It’s only $1 to ride. Even in this stumbling economy it’s easy to justify the expense of a few turns around on the carousel. Two of my four have never ridden one before.
I imagine to my littlest one, the horses look so monstrously huge. The ones baring their teeth for the run, slightly off-putting. But the colors, the lights, the music–it all draws them in, bees to honey, kids to candy, and many other cliches come to mind.
They saddle up and the slow start eases them in, the joy builds with the gaining momentum.
The slow bob of the racers, a heightened delight for the children. From where I sit I can’t see their faces, but I hear their squeals, and see their smiling postures.
Sometimes joy comes cheap, but builds a memory whose value lasts a lifetime. Can you really even measure the long term value of gifts that come easy? Aren’t the hard thanksgivings worth more? Maybe sometimes. But God knows we occasionally need a few easy thanksgivings tossed in amid the hard ones we pick away at, miners mining this rock for diamonds.
We’ve been practicing this Eucharisteo now for over a year. Life has been transformed. Some gifts, we’ve dug out, through filth and sorrow, we’ve grabbed hold with white-knuckles and held on fast. Others have tumbled out unexpectedly, right onto our toes, we live between the seasons of abundance, and famine.
Sometimes we forget that we can all afford joy.
The blur of light and color of this spinning carousel serve as a mirror to my days. We ride the turning wheel with our ups and downs and some days the horses appear scary, angry even–the lights and shadows blot out the beauty of the experience. We forget that this ride is beautiful.
We forget how to sit back and take it all in.
Children know how to live life. It’s the adults that often forget the thrill of simple pleasures. Kids know how to savour the licks from the bowl, how to play carefree in the yard.
These four provide me daily lessons on cheap joy.
**************************************************************************************************************************
Continuing on, beyond 1000 Gifts:
1068. A morning at the Zoo with friends
1069. Spring weather, the ugly storms that cut away to clear skies and warm temperatures
1070. Plans slowly unfolding
1071. Family
1072. New dresses
1073. Laughing with friends
1074. The grace of answered prayers
1075. Sunday dinner, evening play in the yard
1076. The hard waiting, time for prayer in uncertainty.
1077. Being able to trust you, Lord. Whatever you give is good
1078. Cheap joy 
Joining the community of friends and Ann in giving thanks for all things. Won’t you join in the praise?
Want to keep up with me? Subscribe to Always Alleluia by Email to get my posts delivered right to your inbox. You can also find me on Facebook and twitter.
