Ponderings About the Story of Mary and Martha, and Physics

Denise Thayne

Most of us have heard many sermons and probably read books and devotionals about the story of Mary and Martha.
Most of those have admonished us to cultivate a Mary heart. Indeed, when I first considered this passage I thought that I had a Mary heart and soul but had been conditioned culturally to have a Martha work ethic. I have done quite a bit of re-thinking since then and I do not believe that the story of Mary and Martha is a question of either working or adoring, wrong or right, or any other polarity or absolute. Rather this familiar story is a matter of Physics.  Before moving into this assertion, let’s examine the story we all know rather well.
Setting: Martha’s home. Characters: Martha, Mary, Jesus and presumably Lazarus and the disciples. Plot:  Experiences and choices in hospitality. The passage will be expanded by including phrases from a variety of different translations.
 Now while they were on their way, Jesus entered a village [called Bethany], and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and was continually listening to His teaching.  But Martha was very busy and distracted with all of her serving responsibilities; cumbered about much serving; overly occupied and too busy; very worried about her elaborate preparations; pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen and she approached Him and said, “Lord, is it of no concern to You that my sister has left me to do the serving alone; do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me and do her part.”
But the Lord replied to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered and anxious about so many things;  but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part that which is to her advantage, which will not be taken away from her.”
There are many layers in this dialogue. The first layer to peel away is the state Martha was in. We don’t know for sure what Martha was anxious about. This vagueness is one of the lovely gifts of Scripture to us. We can project ourselves into the experiences and learn from them as if we were there. So many words are used to describe Martha’s condition. This is a familiar scene to anyone who has been busy, distracted, worried, anxious, preoccupied, pulled away, bothered, troubled, and cumbered by many things; which would be all of us if we have lived long enough.  Maybe even this morning: “Mom! Tell my sister it’s her turn to feed the dog! “or “How come I have to do everything around here? It isn’t fair.”
As for Martha Perhaps she was well known for her hospitality, but could best manage that smile when EVERYTHING was in order and she didn’t feel like she was doing EVERYTHING by herself.
Perhaps she was well-known for her delicious meals and needed help with the other aspects of hosting so she could create her best dishes.
Perhaps she was well-known for her perfectly laid out home and all of the pleasant accoutrements which needed polishing and dusting, and there was the cleaning of muddy footprints.
Perhaps she was well-known for her beauty and needed the final last minutes to gather her wits and her unruly strands of hair.
Whatever the reason, Martha was anxious and worried to the point of coming to Jesus with a rebuke on her lips. “Lord, is it nothing to You, don’t you care?!”
Scripture is rife with irony. Jesus, had he been more like us, could have replied with something like this: “What do you mean, do I care? Of course I care! Why do you think I, The One by Whom all things were made, became as one made to willingly lay down my life in indescribable pain and relentless sorrow?! How could you ask me if I care?”
Thankfully that is not how Jesus answers us. Another familiar story illustrates His strong and gentle character as well. We know it. The story of the disciples in the boat with the sleeping Jesus while a furious storm of hurricane proportions raged around them. You know what happened. They woke Jesus up and said, “Master, do You not care that we are perishing?” His reply was this:  He arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Hush now. Be still.’”
And when Martha, with her storms of fury raging inside her mind and heart and head asked, “Lord is it nothing to you that my sister has left me to serve alone?”  His reply was
“Martha.” Not just once, but twice, “Martha.” We can imagine Him saying in the calling of her name, “Be not anxious for anything….. Hush now. Come. Be still.  You are worried and upset about many things,  but few things are needed—or indeed only one.Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
As mentioned before, so many lessons on these passages tell us to cultivate a Mary heart, but Oh! How I love Martha!  If we thoughtfully consider this story, we can see that there is no formula for worship here.  I do not even believe it is a question of finding balance between work and worship. That would imply that for every action there would be equal and opposite inaction (Please forgive me Newton). For every 6 hours we worked, we would have to sit at Jesus’ feet another 6 hours. I can’t help but visualize a child sitting on her parent’s foot with her arms wrapped around her parent’s leg, giggling as the parent drags her around like the old-school Frankenstein. I don’t suppose Jesus quite meant Mary should always be at His feet.
What then did Mary have that couldn’t be taken away, and that Jesus wanted Martha to have above all else? That is where I think Physics comes in, and the concept of Degrees of Freedom.
Before I tread on this ground I have to ask forgiveness for those who know far more about this concept than I ever will. I thank you for your graciousness as I take an elementary approach to this idea, and as I take some liberty with the word freedom.
The concept of Degrees of Freedom has to do with the potential for movement and the possible ways something can move. In Physics it refers to a mobile object. In Chemistry it refers to atoms. In Engineering it refers to the machine-particularly robots.
Objects, atoms, machines, animals  – including people all have this potential energy, readiness for movement. The more complex something is, the more possible directions it has to move. The movement can be side to side, up and down, back and forth. It can also include rotation and vibration. As wonderfully complex beings, we  have potential for complex movement.  We have been given the freedom to choose how we apply our energy and in which direction we will move.
We are engineered exquisitely for motion and movement. Robotics engineers work for decades to get robots to achieve the same types of functions that we do without thinking. Eyes that blink. Arms that rotate. Legs that can run and jump and maintain balance.  We revel in moving! It is astounding what the human body does as a matter of course. It is beyond belief what the human body can do with much dedicated discipline and training.
We have this desire to actively engage in this thing called life. There are mountain ranges we would love to climb, lakes to swim, video games to conquer, songs to learn, degrees to earn, a new soccer, karate, golf, dance or skating move we’d like to try.
We see such clever things on Pinterest that would be just right for that certain occasion or that place in the house or garden.
We see human suffering and we long to be part of the healing and resolution to the pain and injustice.
With these amazingly engineered bodies we have, and our creative, compassionate minds we can imagine ourselves doing exhilarating, meaningful things. And we want to do it all!!!
Have you noticed that our brains are always ahead of our bodies? Just look at your  “To Do” list.
If we were jugglers and could actually put a plate at the end of a pole for each thing we are doing, and want to do, and started those plates spinning, how long would it take before our limited resources of time, physical, emotional, spiritual and mental energy just couldn’t keep all of the plates spinning? The reality of gravity would eventually have its way. You know, “You canna’ change the laws of Physics.” (That is for all of us Star Trek fans).
Not only do we long to move, we long to feel we have a purpose. We were made to work. We were made in the image of God and God is very busy and creative indeed. In fact, we find happiness in work as did Jacob when he worked for 7 years for Rachel and it seemed as nothing to him for he loved her so much. The Proverbs 31 woman found satisfaction in her work as she provided stability for her household. Joseph was industrious in the house of Potiphar, in prison and in Pharaoh’s house. 
Eric Liddell (1902 –  1945) was a Scottish Olympic champion at 400 m and a famous Christian missionary whose life was captured in the film ‘Chariots of Fire‘ gave us these words to consider: “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast!
And when I run I feel his pleasure.” “The secret of my success over the 400m is that I run the first 200m as fast as I can. Then, for the second 200m, with God’s help I run faster.” Indeed, he was known for his unique way of running the last bit of his races with his head flung back as if gasping for breath.  
How would you fill in the blank,  “When I ______ I feel His pleasure. Rejoice, my friends! Do that with Him! Go full force, throw your head back and breathe Him in as you breathe out your thanksgiving.
Eric Liddell also said, “You will know as much of God, and only as much of God, as you are willing to put into practice.” 
Degrees of Freedom. Developing that muscle memory. Magnetism.
If applied spiritually, the thing that Mary had that Jesus wanted Martha to have was the muscle memory to move toward Him no matter what the external or internal circumstances might be. AND the reason Jesus wanted this for her and for us is because the closer we are to Him, the more we know of irrepressible joy.
We don’t have to live that way. We can remain happy in our pursuits. I know I find a degree of happiness when I can be helpful or apply my expertise and experience to help others. We find satisfaction in a job well-done. We are happy when we receive words of affirmation at work or home, or get that A, or that promotion, or get to start in the game or are in front and center in a play, recital or concert. Those feelings can lure us into working more, working harder to keep those praises coming.
The trouble is, If I bear the sole responsibility for acquiring my happiness and self-worth, I will work myself to the end of my resources to keep that feeling coming. But, I know that my source of ability is finite, as is the source of affirmation, when it comes from anyone other than Our Infinite God.
The substitutions we accept for joy are as insipid as substituting anything for butter in a recipe. OK. It’s deeper than that, but I had to get there somehow. The Divine Engineer of our bodies designed us to be wholly a part of His world, and holy and set apart for His kingdom.  When we live and move and have our very being in a way other than in Him, we will end up with physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual fatigue, or even full exhaustion at some point, or many points in our lives.
In Jeremiah 2:13 we hear God’s heart on the matter of this substitution. For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.
Sometimes, quite honestly, the turmoil we are in is of our own doing, as was possibly the case when Martha was caught up with the big production of supper. Yet, sometimes we are caught in the midst of circumstances that were outside of our control as with the disciples in the boat.
Thinking again of the story of the disciples and Jesus in the boat, we look at why they were in the boat. Jesus had said to them, “Let us go to the other side of the lake.” The disciples were doing what Jesus asked of them. They were right next to Him, still the storms raged.  Sometimes we find ourselves in turmoil even when we are listening and following.
And sometimes we find it to be a strange combination of both.
In my own busy-ness that I was whirling in before I HAD to stop, I had prayed diligently for two years before accepting my dream job of being back in the classroom full-time in the most nurturing learning environment I have ever had the joy and privilege of experiencing. Knowing how often I ended up being away from my students for extended periods of time due to a chronic illness, I had been unwilling to see more students go through that difficulty. So I resisted until God clearly opened the doors for me to be there.  He was saying, “Let’s get in the boat and go to the other side.” The other side I had imagined was the end of the school year. He had quite another idea of what ”the other side” meant.
 I will confess that even though I was where He wanted me to be, I was not listening very well when He told me to slow down, to remember my physical needs and limitations. And though I continued to draw from the well of Living Water, and the Bread of Life, I was not paying attention to just how thirsty and hungry I really was. Gradually, I helped get myself to the place where I was thoroughly depleted. And, I was beginning to trade the gonzo joy I found only in Him for the happiness that I was finding in my work.
To be honest, some of the struggle in the storm was about me rowing against the waves on my own all the while being fully aware that He was in the boat with me. I guess I didn’t want to wake Him up. Sometimes I get the funny notion that He needs a rest from all of the blessings He pours out on me. Some of it was just life in a world that is far from the way God originally intended it to be. Some of it was living with a chronic illness. In all of it there was so much more for me to learn about His character. Of course, it’s never just about us. He had some people in the hospital that He wanted to love on, so He sent me there to do that. 
He and I have a conspiracy whenever I am in the hospital, that everyone who comes in the room will know His presence and love, with or without words, and that is what we did together. For the dear lady who woke me up at 4:00 A.M. every morning to draw blood, for the nurses who needed His reassurance, for the assistants who needed His encouragement, for the doctors who needed reminders of hope, and for many others. It was all about what He wanted for the people in that sphere. All I could do was exercise my Degrees of Freedom and move closer to Him.
I hope this does not seem blasphemous to some, but I can picture Jesus as the strongest Magnetic Force in the Universe.  Those wonderful words of Jesus, “I am the Vine you are the branches.” Could also be: “I am the Magnet and you are the ferromagnetic material.” Excerpts from Advanced Technological Education and MAGLAB explain it this way:
In ferromagnetic materials, the magnetic moments of a relatively large number of atoms are aligned parallel to each other to create areas of strong magnetization within the material. These areas, which are approximately a millimeter in size, contain billions of aligned atoms and are called magnetic domains. Magnetic domains are always present in ferromagnetic materials due to the way the atoms bond to form the material. However, when a ferromagnetic material is in the unmagnetized condition, the magnetic domains are randomly oriented so that the magnetic field strength in the piece of material is zero.
In Ferromagnetic Material, the domains are randomly aligned but when you move the material closer to the magnet, the material interacts with the field lines. As you repeat the process, you’ll notice the domains gradually aligning with the field of the magnet and with each other.
By the time you’re done, the ferromagnetic material has become a permanent magnet itself, a dipole having oppositional north-south poles. A permanent magnet is nothing more than a ferromagnetic object in which all the domains are aligned in the same direction.
Degrees of Freedom. Our Lord draws us. We move toward Him and our very being begins to be realigned with His. Moving closer to Our Loving, Living God is not just a matter of physically sitting near Him. Though that is an important part. The Freedom of movement includes how we move our brains. We can become so anxious about the storms in the world. We can become so worried and succumb to the Fear Of Missing Out that we read or listen to opinion bites first thing when we wake up, or listen to, or watch a Ted Talk or podcast, or any of the myriad ways images and ideas flood our brains.
How then do we move our brains toward God? We ask Him what He thinks of it. We ask Him through prayer. We ask Him by reading His Word. We ask Him by talking with learned, wise and trusted people who are also seeking to know His mind on matters that concern us.  We can determinedly exercise our minds so that the thing we most fear missing out on is aligning our thoughts with His.  The more we draw close to Him, the stronger our alignment and our very makeup changes to resemble His. The closer we draw to Him the stronger our magnetic force. Then we can call to others, “Come and see. I found the One.”
But what if we feel like we have been sidelined from this great purpose? We can’t feel His pleasure in any of our movements due to pain, or inability to move, or despair or confusion? When we wonder why suffering happens, how can we be so sure we have found the One?
I was recently asked, “What if it’s all a lie? What if you die and find out this whole thing about God wasn’t real?” To which I can only say, “The companionship that I, small sheep that I am, have known on this earth with The Very Good Shepherd has been so real that even if I find I have believed in vain, I will not find I lived in vain.” 
Several years ago I was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. I have lost track of how many doctor and hospital visits, needles, procedures of every sort, tests of every sort, X-rays, infections, medication experiments and reactions, and cycles of malnutrition and starvation I have experienced over the years. Throughout these experiences, He has been faithful. His word is my manna. His joy, my strength. His presence, my life-source. Sometimes I feel His presence so strongly that it is palpable. Sometimes, it  is a faint reassurance. Always He has been here. My tiny, simple life has known the touch of the most powerful and eminently compassionate Being in the universe.
I am grateful for reminders of how fragile we really are, for in them I have also been repeatedly reminded that we are not alone in this fragility. With every experience, I have seen facets of God’s character that I would not have known otherwise. I would not trade this view for anything. In the longing and questions we ask as we seek to understand our existence lies the answer, Emmanuel ~ God with us ~ and the reason He willingly wrapped Himself in skin, the garment of humanity, and washed our feet and allowed nails to be driven through His. 

Each of us has a different story, but two variables are common in every story.
One: We desperately need Him. Two: He desperately longs for us to come.
How many times does Scripture use the word come? One source tells us the word is used in the KJV 1,663 times. Think of the verses you know with the word, “Come.”
How many of the verses that came to your thoughts were invitations from Our Lord?
Our Creator calls us to come. We have Degrees of Freedom. We have potential energy that we can exert to move in any direction we choose. When the invitation to come is spoken, yelled, sung or whispered we have the ability to orient ourselves toward the voice or away from the voice. Our loving Shepherd says, “Come sit at my feet, and we say,  “But I am a busy little soul taken up with many things.” And then something comes into our world that calls us loudly. As C.S Lewis says, “Pain is a megaphone….”
Through the pain- physical, emotional, mental and situational, He calls us. He reveals Himself through His Presence, His Word, His world, and His people. He encourages us to stretch beyond just dipping our feet in The Living Water but to be drenched in the waterfall of His Presence.
The world might say, isn’t’ that rather megalomaniacal?  Manipulative? Merciless? Why does God need us puny little creatures for His own pleasure? Why does an all-sufficient God need and want people to worship at His feet? Why would He let horrible things happen?
We can certainly choose to see this side of things. We can even fondly believe that we came up with such clever questions and objections by ourselves while hoping the wise ones of the world notice our philosophical and intellectual prowess. Side note: (I am not sure about this part, it might be too harsh…..)
Or, we can choose to see this kind of calling to Himself as Magnanimous beyond our comprehension. If, as fathers, mothers, grandparents, and friends we have found the source of beauty and life and joy would we not want to draw our children, grandchildren and our friends to that Source? Andrew ran to Simon, Philip went to look for Nathanael, The woman whom Jesus met  at the well ran to the village and said Come and see!
Jesus said to all of us
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened and I will give you rest, refreshing your souls with salvation.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, following Me as My disciple, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28 AMPC
Sharing a yoke with Jesus is another matter of Physics. It definitely limits our Degrees of Freedom. Now we have to take into consideration where the One with Whom we are yoked wants to go. We also have to be willing to to let the stronger One pull more of the weight than we do.
That is no small challenge. I don’t know about you, but I can be pretty stubborn about toughing things out and being independent and strong and not needing help. Until I’m not, and I do.
A yoke does not mean we stop working altogether. A yoke is meant for work. It does mean that we give up the substitutionary happiness and satisfaction and the, “Job well done” from employers or colleagues or coaches or teachers. It means that we are close enough to Our Master to know His mind and move at His beckoning. It means that when we come alongside Him we work with a spring in our step that belies our weakness, and a peace in our heart that defies pain, and a joy that by the world’s standards has no business being there, and a childlike abandon that intentionally releases the grip on the trappings and self-sufficiency that disguise themselves as being adult.
More physics. More Degrees of Freedom. More Magnetism.
The rest of Martha’s story reveals her progression in moving closer to Jesus.
John sets the stage for us this time. Setting: Martha’s home. Characters:  Mary, Martha, Lazarus, the disciples. Plot: Mary and Martha had sent word to Jesus that the one whom He loved, their brother Lazarus was sick. They were waiting for Jesus to come and make everything all right. Jesus loved and was concerned about Martha and her sister and Lazarus and considered them dear friends. Yet, even when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed in the same place two more days. He had deliberately chosen not to come. The illness had taken the life of Lazarus.
If ever there was a situation that could cause one to feel there was a furious storm inside and out, this would be one of those. So what does Martha do when she hears Jesus is belatedly on His way? She stays put and nurses the storm.
No. As John 11: 20-27 reveals, she practices her freedom of degrees and goes out to Him. Lovingly Jesus draws out from her degrees of faith that plumb the depths of her very soul. He peels back layers in His conversation with her that draw her to see for herself the  answer to the question that He poses to all of us: Who do you say that I Am? 
We read:
 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him, while Mary remained sitting in the house. Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. One step closer. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give to You.” Another step closer. Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise [from the dead].” Martha replied, “I know that he will rise [from the dead] in the resurrection on the last day.” Closer. Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, relies on) Me [as Savior] will live even if he dies; and everyone who lives and believes in Me [as Savior] will never die. Do you believe this?”  She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed and continue to believe that You are the Christ the Messiah, the Anointed, the Son of God, He who was destined and promised to come into the world and it is for You that the world has waited.”
YES! Martha, Martha you have chosen the better thing that cannot be taken away from you.
But wait there is more!
Setting: Martha’s home. Characters: Martha, Mary, Lazarus without stinky grave clothes, the disciples. Plot: Another dinner in Martha’s house.
John 12:12 describes it for us
“ Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom He had raised from the dead. So they gave a supper for Him there. Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard, and she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
Sounds similar to where we started. Hadn’t Martha learned her lesson? She was still serving!
But we have witnessed her growth. We know there is something in between the lines of this story. Remember those plates that were spinning for her, and for us as well? I can imagine that Martha has let go of all of them and lifted but one plate to The Lord and said with trembling heart and hands, “You. Master. Lord. Messiah. You, the central Hope of all the world. You Alone fill this plate. “
What had He put on her plate? Lazarus had actually been dead, wrapped and placed in a tomb. Mary and Martha had lost their beloved brother and had been tossed about in a rocking boat on a sea of sorrow amid wind and waves of confusion. Martha’s faith had been stretched then solidified. Not with an expectation that Jesus would always do what she thought He should, but with crystalline trust in Who He actually was, apart from what He could, or would, or would not do. The unshakable statement of Who He was came at a great price for her, but it was a pearl no one could take away from her.
This time rather than a rebuke on her lips we can imagine there was a song in her heart as she served, and as Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and Lazarus reclined at the table, each of them practicing their Degrees of Freedom. Each of them worshipping. The true worship that can only be practiced in Spirit and Truth.
The closer we are to Jesus, the more we know of Him and the richer we become. As Jesus Himself said,
“O just and righteous Father, although the world has not known You and has never acknowledged You and the revelation of Your mercy, yet I have always known You; and these believers know without any doubt that You sent Me;  and I have made Your name known to them, and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them overwhelming their heart, and I may be in them.” John 17:25 AMPC
O Beloveds, may our hearts be overwhelmed!
I can’t help but think of the writer of those verses, John. If anyone had great energy and potential for motion it would be this man – a busy fisherman, nicknamed with his brother as a Son of Thunder.  His muscle memory was developed so single-mindedly that it can almost be missed it comes so naturally. He was often nameless, known as the disciple whom Jesus loved. If we viewed a trailer of John’s life, it might look like this.
First scene: John as a disciple of John the Baptist. John the Baptist pointing out that Jesus Is The Lamb of God. John going to Jesus and asking where He was staying. John following Jesus and staying with Him.
Next Scenes: From that day on, John was one of the many, and often one of the very few, chosen by Jesus Himself, who followed Jesus and stayed with Him. We see John in these circumstances:  at weddings, funerals, feasts, on stormy lakes, on long dry walks, asking questions, listening to Jesus’ words, watching Him heal, hearing the voice of the Father answer Jesus’ prayers, repeatedly coming back to Jesus to fill up his basket in order to carry food to the thousands of  hungry people who reclined on a hillside, climbing mountains and seeing Jesus blazing brilliantly and hearing The Voice, leaning in to Jesus to ask the hard question, “Who is it who will betray You?”, singing hymns with Jesus, trying to keep watch with Jesus as He prayed to the Father while John’s weary body tried to stay awake, standing by Jesus when he was betrayed.
Final Scenes: After all had fled, John entered along with Jesus into the court of the palace of the high priest. It was John who was at the foot of the cross as Jesus bequeathed to John the care of Jesus’ beloved mother. John who saw Jesus’ final moments and heard Him cry out. It was John who ran to the tomb, not because he wanted to go in first – he gave Peter that opportunity. Rather John was running because his focused longing was always to be where Jesus was. He applied every bit of his energy, his muscle memory moved within the Degrees of Freedom and propelled him. His very heart  beat with the rhythm of  Je-sus. It was John who saw the empty tomb and believed. John who was first to recognize Jesus as He stood on the shore and called to His disciples who had been out on the lake trying to fish.
It was John who, perhaps knowing that His beloved Jesus would soon be gone without any more such appearings, even followed Jesus and Peter at a distance as Jesus spoke His words of healing of Peter.
And it was John who illuminated the world with these words:
We are writing about the Word of Life Him Who existed from the beginning, Whom we have heard, Whom we have seen with our own eyes, Whom we have gazed upon for ourselves and have touched with our own hands. And the Life, an aspect of His being, was revealed made manifest, demonstrated, and we saw as eyewitnesses and are testifying to and declare to you the Life, the eternal Life in Him Who already existed with the Father and Who actually was made visible (was revealed) to us His followers. What we have seen and ourselves heard, we are also telling you, so that you too may realize and enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with us. And this fellowship that we have which is a distinguishing mark of Christians is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ the Messiah. And we are now writing these things to you so that our joy in seeing you included may be full and your joy may be complete.
1 John 1: 1-4  Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

When we hear birdsong or a beautiful melody, when we witness the miracle of a seed becoming a plant with zucchini,  when we see and hear and touch the many things that give us pause and pleasure, we are eye and ear witnesses of Him! We have been invited to apply our energy to practice our Degrees of Freedom, to develop our muscle memory, to align ourselves with Him and become attached to Him, that our joy may be complete!
May we trade the self-reliant, self-sufficient happiness with which our culture lures us for true joy!
Happiness is a firework. Fun. Fantastic. Fascinating.          And fleeting.
Joy is a pleasantly fragrant, warm geyser;  always rumbling beneath the surface threatening to burst its boundaries, spraying all over us and often leaving us quite undignified. Joy is not as predictable as Old Faithful.  In fact, it often catches us unaware. As C.S Lewis discovered, one can be quite surprised by it.
“ Not the slightest hint was vouchsafed me that there ever had been, or ever would be any connection between God and joy. If anything, it was the reverse. I had hoped that the heart of reality might be of such a kind that we can best symbolize it as a place; instead, I found it to be a Person.” 
The closer we are to this Person, the more frequently we will feel and hear that rumbling beneath us. Get ready. It is coming.

If you’re caught in the spiraling wheels of the world,
Harness every drop of energy.
Move closer to Him.
Be ready.
And be still.

If the wheels of the world are spinning without you,
Spend your last drop of energy.
Move closer to Him.
Be ready.
And be still.

Beloveds, let us choose to practice our Degrees of Freedom and continually move closer to Jesus as Martha did, as Mary did and as John so powerfully did. The Truth, the Life and all the fullness of the joy of being with Him cannot help but guide our hearts and minds as we submit to Him as living sacrifices, not content to dip our foot in the happiness of the world but to let him drench us in Joy under the waterfall of His presence and come up splashing on everyone He brings along our path.

A precious Good Shepherd lover – of – God splashed on me and shared this book of Love Poems to God with me.  Here is one of the poems.

Book of Hours I,14. by Rainer Maria Rilke
I, 14
You see, I want a lot.
Maybe I want it all:
the darkness of each endless fall,
the shimmering light of each assent.

So many are alive who don’t seem to care.
Casual, easy, they move in the world
as though untouched.

But you take pleasure in the faces
of those who know they thirst.
You cherish those
who grip you for survival.

You are not dead yet, it’s not too late
to open your depths by plunging into them
and drink in the life
that reveals itself quietly there.

These are the songs that I have used for meditation while considering these passages:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHlbnNUHQGI
Another precious Good Shepherd  lover – of – God splashed on me with this.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA7n7TwPDmw