Joy and sorrow.

Joy and sorrow are never separated. When our hearts rejoice at a spectacular view, we may miss our friends who cannot see it, and when we are overwhelmed with grief, we may discover what true friendship is all about. Joy is hidden in sorrow and sorrow in joy. If we try to avoid sorrow at all costs, we may never taste joy, and if we are suspicious of ecstasy, agony can never reach us either. Joy and sorrow are the parents of our spiritual growth. -Henri Nouwen

This quote has really been on my mind lately as life become an even more and more intertwined web of joy and sorrow.  Things are good: teaching is good, apartment is good, friendships are good, church is good, time with God is good.  In short, there is much joy in my life. Joy and laughter and peace and stillness and fun.  And yet at the same time, everything reminds me of something or someone I miss.  In the midst of that joy and stillness and fun, my insecurities surface.  The past two weekends I've been able to skype with good friends in Michigan and Buenos Aires.  Sorrow in joy as I love to connect with them, yet miss my days with them, miss seeing their little ones grow up. Joy in sorrow in the down days lately where dear friends have come along side me, where God has revealed himself in new ways, breaking down my heart in order to fill it with more of himself.  

I am continually amazed at how God is able to weave these two opposites together in my life and in the world around me.  I like how Nouwen says in his last line of this quote that it is joy and sorrow who are our spiritual parents, who teach us and mold us and shape us in ways that are both subtle and obvious.  They cannot be separated, this sorrow and joy, nor do I think, in many ways, I really want them to be.