Shining The Light

There's something to be said for tossing off your inhibitions and exposing yourself to ridicule and rejection, to being seen as ridiculous.

Little children do it all the time, until they feel the bite of scorn and judgment from friends and bullies.

But if you notice, the result of opening yourself, of laying bare your vulnerability, also has the potential to create joy.

Joy.

It's more than mere happiness. It's an emotion that lingers, which is infectious and healing.

I had forgotten how much I love THIS.

The last few years have seemed so caustic and polarized.

Yelling at each other, hating each other, defensive and arrogant, selfish and closed and irate at the thought of forgiveness and compromise.

I've been to so many of these places.

I have no idea how Matt got all these people to do this with him, but it's worth the reminder that just five or six years ago, before Syria exploded, before we were contemplating the nuclear annihilation of millions of people, this guy could still find joy everywhere he went.

You can be the voice of optimism and hope and joy, and we need to hear that message as often as you can share it.