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Members of Joy

Members of Joy

Members of Joy 2560 1920 Nicole

When Greer was younger, whenever there was an occasion for unwrapping a present (birthday, Christmas), she would reverently pull apart the paper, open the gift and exclaim, “Just what I’ve always wanted!” Utter delight. Joy.

Joy is an orientation, a disposition of awe and wonder

But if there are things that bother us – whether an injustice done to you, or injustices you notice around you, or both – if we are bothered, hurt, confused… it is difficult to look at the world with this disposition, with a sense of awe and wonder.

“Peace,” Sabrina Orah Mark once wrote in a story about daughters, “is what pain looks like in public.”

We all carry around some measure of pain on a relatively regular basis. In our relationships, in our hips, in our dealing with health insurance…

But I would posit it’s more that joy is what pain looks like in public, because peace is more the effect, whereas joy is a choice, and a practice.

Greer was so good at – and still is – deciding just because it is a gift just for her, no matter what it was, she would exclaim, “it’s just what I always wanted!”

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About the author

Nicole

Nicole Oliver Snyder’s expertise lies in the areas of leadership, gender issues, and mindfulness practice as it affects both. Leadership, particularly in an urban setting, requires community-relations skills, and an ability to clearly convey justice issues as they relate to felt, spiritual ones. Dr. Snyder is author of Leading Together: Mindfulness and the Gender Neutral Zone, and specializes in teaching mindfulness leadership development, formative spirituality, counseling, and Old Testament theology (emphasis on justice issues). She has a diverse background in international community-relations work combined with volunteer work in multi-ethnic communities, and with local institutions. She is an ordained Clergy; holds a BS in Human Development and Family Studies, w/Education Certificate, an MA-Counseling, MDiv Equiv., holds a Doctor of Ministry and Advanced Certification in Formative Spiritual Direction, and is a Licensed Professional Counselor (CO, MI).

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