Happy Souls

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all  your mind.  Matthew 22:37

Dave and I spent another great weekend traveling from Graduation party to Graduation party visiting and laughing and celebrating.   It’s fun to watch people enter a room and see what they do and how their presence changes the atmosphere of the room.  It’s fun to see how people find a seat and navigate the crowd.  I did a little people watching this weekend and thought I’d share an observation and a quote today that seemed simple and important.

“God does not germinate in sad souls.  He wants a heart that is free and happy.” St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi   I noticed this weekend that the sad souls were easy to spot and so were the happy ones. I’ve come to the conclusion that it really has very little to do with life circumstances and personality but a great deal more to do with  peace; the kind of peace that comes from contentment in Christ.  I’ve spent time talking with lots of folks who were experiencing trials and some who were in the midst of exciting times and there were sad and happy souls in each camp.  I believe the happy souls have something bigger than a positive attitude going for them; they have a clear understanding of this verse from Matthew.  The truly happy souls love God no matter what and through it all.  They are the ones who can talk about the exciting blessings in their life and give God the credit and they are the ones who can talk about the struggles and tragedies in their life and acknowledge God’s presence, wisdom and love in the midst of it all.

The happy souls seemed to think of others first, they ask about you first, they talk about the delicious food and beautiful weather.  They take your plate and offer to bring you a fresh drink.  They have a servant’s heart and I think there must be a strong tie between a servant’s heart and a happy soul! They are happy and free like the quote suggests because they know they don’t have to be in charge; that is a job reserved for the God who loves them.  They are not required to think and plan and organize their lives, they allow God to do that and they are simply left with the task of loving him and loving others.   Some of the happy souls were loud and outgoing, some were quiet and reserved but the thing that made them all so beautiful was the way they humbly let the light and compassion of Christ shine on others rather than on themselves.  Whether we realize it or not, the happy souls are the ones we gravitate toward because they just make us feel better.

The whole thought of happy souls left me wondering why we make it so hard.  The lesson was cemented into my heart last night as I tended our sprouting garden and wondered what kind of soul I was giving God to germinate in.  Humm…I’m sure I will be thinking hard about that this week!

A Seed To Plant:  Spend some time in prayer this week and evaluate what kind of “soul” you are and ask God to help you be a great soul for him to germinate in.

Blessings on your day!