In the last couple of days, many of us have witnessed pure joy skating on ice. Alysa Liu skates with a freedom we seldom see in any creature other than the very young, when they are playing with no thought for anything other than how good it feels. This young woman began to win skating competitions at an extremely young age, then stopped because of the pressure she felt and the restrictions being imposed on her. But she missed the feeling of pushing herself physically, of giving everything she had, and she began competing again a couple of years ago. Yesterday, she won a gold medal in the women’s singles competition. She is the epitome of what these United States have been founded upon. Her father immigrated to this country following his participation in protests over the Tiananmen Square events in Beijing. Alysa had a very non-traditional childhood, but says that memories of living in a small apartment with her four siblings are happy ones. Look up her winning free-style performance on youtube. I guarantee some of her exuberance will spread to you!
“Joy calls forth an integrated willingness to share it, and promotes the mind’s natural impulse to respond as one. Those who attempt to heal without being wholly joyous themselves call forth different kinds of responses at the same time, and thus deprive others of the joy of responding wholeheartedly.”
—A Course in Miracles T-5.in.1:6-7
“Who that has felt the loss of human peace has not gained stronger desires for spiritual joy? The aspiration after heavenly good comes even before we discover what belongs to wisdom and Love. The loss of earthly hopes and pleasures brightens the ascending path of many a heart. The pains of sense quickly inform us that the pleasures of sense are mortal and that joy is spiritual.”
—Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 265:23-30
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