In our daily mid- afternoon pause for coffee and spiritual reading, we draw inspiration from the Journals of Brother Roger of Taize,** the founder and first prior of the ecumenical community in Taizé, France. His vision of peace and reconciliation has inspired us since our first visit to Taizé in 2003. In this issue we share his insights that have inspired us to lean towards joy. He writes:

Growing up on the Gulf Coast, only a few blocks from the water, I am familiar with “Bent Oaks”, the affectionate term for beloved Live Oak trees, leaning over, bending as if in a profound bow. Soft, prevailing breezes not only bend the trees landward but also train the roots to steady the trees from destructive cyclonic hurricane winds. (Photo: Bent Oaks, Rockport, Texas)

I’ve always been fascinated by leaning oaks. Brother Roger’s meditation on leaning towards joy made me think of the Coastal oak trees who surrendered to the prevailing bay- to- land breezes, training them to lean away from dangers and hurricane destruction. While many trees were toppled by the vicious 2017 Hurricane Harvey, the leaning oaks stood firm.

Brother Roger’s meditation can be applied to our own lives, saving us from destruction and fear of destruction, bringing us to greater joy, and inner peace. A constant leaning towards joy tends to strengthen and steady us when threatened or troubled. The more we lean, the steadier we become, and the more we grow in inner peace.

Further on in Brother Roger’s journaling, we read that even in a dismal day, he steadies himself with inner peace. He writes:

Yesterday was my birthday. I wrote nothing in this notebook. I look forward to May 12 as a day full of joy. That did not happen. Painful explanations, the weight of susceptibilities. The further I go forward in life, the more I consent to passing through the small daily trials with inner peace.** (34)

indeed practicing joy as a spiritual discipline.” – Sarah Arthur*

Third, I believe, is an even deeper level of attentiveness. As Frederick Buechner said, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.” To recognize that place – or such places – requires mindful, prayerful attentiveness. What does give me joy? What calls me out of myself? Or deeper into my true being?

Macrina Wiederkehr wrote a marvelous prayer about such calling, an Epiphany prayer to the “Creator of the Stars.” In it, she prays for the light of the stars to “awaken … me to deeper seeing” and asks the “Infinite Star Giver … for wisdom and courage to follow these stars … [that] shine on me wherever I go:”

*A Light so Lovely: The Spiritual Legacy of Madeleine L’Engle (Zondervan, 2018), pp. 199-200.

**Journals of Brother Roger of Taizé, Vol. I (Cascade Books, 2021).

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