There is a quiet but profound invitation in today's lesson: to be happy because of what is already true about us.

How easily the mind searches for something wrong. A worry to resolve, a future to prepare for, a judgment to reconsider. We can become so accustomed to looking for shadows that we overlook the light in which we are standing.

Yet our holiness does not depend upon circumstances, accomplishments, or even our ability to feel peaceful. It is not something we must earn or create. It is what God has given us, and nothing we experience can take it away.

Today, we are invited to loosen our attachment to the stories that keep happiness somewhere beyond the present moment. We can welcome the happy things of God without waiting for everything in our lives to be different.

And as we begin to recognize this light within ourselves, we may discover it shining in everyone we meet.

Perhaps joy is not the reward for finally getting life right. Perhaps it is the natural expression of remembering who we are.

My holiness shines bright and clear today. And so does yours.