Advent Joy: A Well Dweller’s Christmas Eve

Welcome to Well Dweller Moments on The Well Dwellers Podcast!

Micha Boyett From Her Substack: The Slow Way

“I believe we can grow in our capacity for joy, based on the decisions we make. We can put ourselves in situations and relationships that increase our joy, even if our level of happiness doesn’t change. What I’m trying to say is perhaps joy isn’t necessarily abstract. It’s rooted in the choices we make, even as it bubbles out of the goodness of God. Joy asks for our participation.”

Find Micha’s full post here: https://substack.com/inbox/post/153416218

Micha goes on to share some of the ways she experiences this kind of participatory joy. I will leave a link in the episode notes so you can go and find them — and you should really see these incredible experiences of hers like embodiment, spiritual practices, good food, and caring for others.

I resonate with:

· Joy is deeper and more enduring than happiness. It has an eternal divine element that is present even in the darkest most painful moments.

· Contentment. Not a submissive “giving up” sort of thing. But an internal realization of knowing we don’t have to have all the answers to the joy we experience in life. That we have a freedom of knowing joy connects us to a bigger story that will outlast the present pains and unhappiness.

· Joy needs our embodiment. Joy needs participation. (Participating in relationships and community tend to make me forget current struggles.)

Final thoughts:

· The Divine Participation & Joy

· He participates in the crying, the hunger, and the desire for warmth and to be embraced and held by those who love him.

· The story of Emmanuel… God with us. Where He joins us here at the bottom of the well.

· This is the joy and hope I want to spend more time with as we enter the New Year.

Merry Christmas and may the blessing of Emmanuel, God with us, fill your home!

Have you ever found yourself captivated by:

· A particular scenic view?

· A picture?

· A spoken word?

· Something you’ve read?

· An idea or thought about something you’ve recently experienced?

It happens to me all the time!

Hello friends. I’m Erik Freiburger and welcome to Well Dweller Moments.

[Intro Video]

I love bridges. I’m not sure what it is but, whether I’m wheeling the streets in my neighborhood or rolling through the park, I’m compelled to stop in the center of each bridge and take in the moment. Taking deep controlled breaths, I watch as the traffic passes under me. I admire the beauty of the water flowing beneath the bridge. And I let my mind wonder on the things that have been filling it over the past few days.

More often than not, it is here that I can get lost in the moment. Just like I suppose I am doing right now.

My life is often filled with experiences and moments where I am still learning about disability, dignity, and hope. It is my aspiration that every week I might get to share with you about one of those moments in these brief conversations.

Hopefully in the sharing of my life moments, you might have a moment in your life, too.

So if you haven’t yet, click the Subscribe Button below. And if you have something you might like to hear me chat on, or you have a question you’d like me to respond to, leave me a comment and I will try to share it and respond in future talks.

Until then, I hope you have an awesome week ahead. And I will see you in the next Well Dweller Moment.