By Abbot Tryphon, April 21, 2020
For everlasting Joy comes with Christ’s Resurrection
We all have certain things in our lives that we feel passionate about. When I was a young man, long distance running was my passion, and nothing gave me more joy than the run. Every day was organized around running. I’d even plan vacations around my runs, often heading to Vancouver, B.C., so I could run around Stanley Park. I’d stay in a cheap hotel near the park, figuring the room was needed for sleeping only, so why waste money on a nice hotel.
Every morning and evening, I’d be out for a run around that magnificent park, spending the rest of the day touring around the city on foot. When teaching in a small college in Portland, Oregon, I’d take a two-hour lunch break, spent almost entirely running. I’d even run to work and run home. Friends just had to learn that any time spent with me was likely to be scheduled around a run.
Many years ago I had hip replacement surgery, with my surgeon suggesting it was likely due to all those years of abusing my hips with daily runs. A friend once asked me if I felt any sadness over the fact that I can no longer run, and that age has slowed me down. I responded by saying that the memories were still with me, but I now live with a newfound joy.
The joy I found in running has been replaced by the joy I experience in living in the heart of a beautiful forest, on an island, in the company of my brother monks. The only regret I have is that it took me so long to discover the depth of joy that could be found in Christ, and how fleeting worldly joy can be.
I am convinced some things are meant to be of a temporal nature, and confined to this temporal world. It is only the things of God’s Kingdom that are meant to be eternal. It is our relationship with Christ that is meant to be permanent, and it is this relationship that is meant to be central in this life that the Lord has gifted to us. There is nothing fleeting about the joy we can have in our life in Christ, and there is no room for bitterness, for bitterness has no place to reside in the Kingdom of God. Bitterness, like death, has been banished, for in Christ we have eternal life, ever worshipping before the Throne of Glory.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
~Abbot Tryphon, The Morning Glory, https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/morningoffering/2020/04/fleeting-joy-is-banished/
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