Psalm 92:1-4 
 It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,
to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.
For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

Glad is not a word I use very much. In fact I often forget to name out loud the people, the places and the experiences that make me glad. This week I said goodbye to two of my children who will spend most of the summer in Iowa. I am sad to see them go but am reminded in their absence of how much they fill my heart with gladness. If I’m honest I will report that I am also filled with thanksgiving for the opportunity to rest. I am glad in the stillness of the morning, the gentle breeze of an evening outside and the extra time to reconnect with other blessed and important people in my life.

Our gladness is often intermixed with our sorrows. Our joys made more tangible by our disappointments.

The poetry of these Psalm verses remind us to pause our coming and going, our busy thoughts or fast past days and be reminded of what makes us glad.

How is God working in the world around you? Whether in the darkness of your sadness or grief or in the sunlit joys that fill you and surround you? May you take a moment or an afternoon… even a whole day and celebrate what makes you glad!

May you see God working in both of life’s joys and disappointments,
May the tenderness of God’s love and attention to the details of creation,
of our lives together and in our communities make you glad.
Go in peace and gladness and celebrate life.