Disordered Attachments

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    Something I love gets taken away and I get MAD! I cannot find what I am looking for and I get FRUSTRATED. Something does not happen on my timeline and I RAGE.

    So many strong, negative responses come when my priorities are misaligned and often they cause pain to another.

    Ignatius of Loyola calls these “disordered attachments”.  Attachments that are out of order. These can be good things, but there are disordered, not in the right order of priority. (aka “idols”)

    I would invite you to pray today. Ask God what your disordered attachments are. Pay attention to any great negative emotional swings. What is your heart attached to?

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Advent Joy

**Please take one minute to sit, breathe deeply and seek quiet.**

JOY -
n: the emotion evoked by well-being, success or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires;
v: to experience great pleasure or delight.

    According to Webster, joy is dependent on our emotions and experiences. Our joy is subject to our well-being, the well-being of those we love, success and/or gaining the desires of our hearts. I can relate to this. Yes, joy is an emotion and can be found in experiences and I LOVE to feel joy!
    Jesus also speaks of a joy that is grounded, not fleeting and not at the mercy of emotions. Joy is found in a person – Jesus.
    Jesus is constant, steady and true. He is not based on emotion or experience. He IS. If joy is found in a relationship with Jesus then this joy grounds me and is not dependent on experience and emotion. Experience and emotion are there but our joy is not based on those things. Our joy is based on something more stable.
    Yes, joy is felt and joy can go missing but our TRUE joy, the joy that grounds us is found in the person of Jesus, whose birth we look forward to with great anticipation.

**Please take as much time as is possible to sit and reflect.**