“Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.  A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love.”

– Mother Teresa

Love is such a miracle.  It can carry the passion of falling in love and motivate us to make a commitment.  It becomes the commitment, transforming from emotion to verb, and stands firm when the excitement of falling in love has passed.  Love can be tender and gentle, like the first caress a newborn feels when her mother runs a finger along the side of her cheek and teaches her to trust.  Love can be soothing when someone is hurting — it binds the wounds and heals the heart.  The strands of love that weave through our lives create a web that encircles us all with life-sustaining, uplifting Love.

As we allow each strand of each facet of love to attach to our hearts and become a part of who we are, Love begins to celebrate within us and we find that we are filled with Joy.  Joy is the love that is so infinite that our hearts cannot contain it.  It springs from our souls and is cast like a net that stretches over all we meet and draws them into the celebration.  Joy is irresistible and captivating, and those who are caught by it find themselves reveling in their captivity.  Is there any work we could hope to do that would be more fulfilling than spreading the net of Joy wherever we go?

We cannot have Joy unless our hearts are fueled by Love.  We must empty ourselves of all the things that put out the fire and let the space carry only the burning Love that transforms us and overflows wherever we go.  Hatred and resentment must be bound by the strand of love called forgiveness and left behind us as we walk our paths.  Jealousy must be tied up with gratitude and tossed aside.  Judgment must be wrapped in the golden thread of compassion and transformed into thoughts of tenderness and understanding.  Only then — when all the debris has been removed — can the fire of Love burn so brightly and so warmly that Joy will dance ahead of us wherever we go.

With our hearts filled with Love — and only Love — we can carry the Joy that will transform the world.  Let your Joy dance before you and touch the hearts of all you meet.  Let your Love be the spark that kindles the fire for the person whose love lies buried and whose flame burns low.  Cast your net of Joy, woven from the strands of love, extend from your heart to all you encounter.  Let your heart burn with love, and you will set the world on fire with Joy.