I had searched for joy, but it escaped me.
In my desperation I turned to God.

But where could I find God?
Where did He live?

I walked outside and looked for God in the tree.
I asked the tree, "Are you God?"
But there was no reply, just the rustling of the wind through the leaves.

I saw an eagle flying overhead.
"Are you God?" I asked.
But the eagle quickly flew from my sight.

I turned to the sun, with its bright, warm glow.
But the sun disappears each night, and I knew that God would never leave me.

Perhaps God was hiding in the heavens.
I searched for God in the clouds.
But all I saw was a clear blue sky.

So I returned home to my family.
Perhaps they were God.
I asked them, "Can you fix me? Can you make me whole?"
But no matter how they tried, the other people in my life couldn't make me happy.
They could guide me, enrich and empower me, but they could not tell me where God was.

I turned to my money and possessions.
Perhaps filling my life with material things could bring me great joy.
But of course it could not.

I turned to my religion.
Perhaps God lived in the church, the book, the words.
I got ever so close. As if he was home, but the door was locked.
My religion could teach me how to search, could fill me with wisdom and hope, but it could not travel my journey for me.

So I surrendered.

And in my surrender, I closed my eyes.

And the world around me melted away.

In its place came the light.
Brighter and whiter than any light I had seen before, and it filled every space.
But how could I see the light, for my eyes were closed tight?
From where did this light come, for the room was dark?
I cared not, because it quickly filled every inch of my being.

I felt warmth spread to every limb and organ.
But this warmth came not from outside, for I had no blanket and the room remained cool.
No, it was a comforting warmth. It felt not like a fire, but like... Love.
From where did this warmth come?
I cared not, because every cell of my body felt it.

This light and this wamth radiated from me in all directions, until every corner of the room was filled.
I trembled.

And as my eyes slowly opened, my vision was cast upon a photograph of my loved ones.
I realized in that moment that they were God, and God was in them and all others I have met and have yet to meet.

I saw my Bible on the nightstand.
And yes, God lived in that book and in those words as well.
And yet God was more.

I saw the roof overhead, my possessions which inspired me and the food which nourished me.
And there was God, in all of these things.

I walked outside to visit the tree.
And in it I saw God.
And God was also in the wind which gently shook its leaves.

I looked up and saw God.
He was the eagle watching over me.

I felt the sun's warm glow, and there was God again.
And at night the sun would leave me with the moon and the stars.

As I returned to my home, I caught my reflection in a hallway mirror.
And as I stopped, my gaze fixed upon my reflection, I saw God.
God was inside me, flowed through me and expressed from me.
God was the light, the warmth, the Love that had always been there.
I had just been too busy to notice.

As the painting to the artist, the song to the musician, and the word to the poet, I was God's own self-expression.
And so were the people and possessions in my life, the great religions, the sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds, the tree, the wind, the eagle, and all else.

I stopped searching for joy.
For I was joy.

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