A Deeper Drive

So I'm gonna wax philisophical-anyone who gets easily offended by talk of the spiritual---well, maybe this is for you.
I was driving to school on Friday, and the traffic was wretched...as it typically is headed towards DC at 6:30 in the AM...
I was feeling a bit grumpy, and could sense a general tension in the cars about me (as is also typical).

Except when I looked in my rearview mirror. The guy behind me was grinning from ear to ear-sort of nodding his head, but not like he was listening to music--it was the weirdest thing. I HAD to know what was up. He began talking and smiling and laughing, and I finally spotted a child strapped into a carseat in the back.
And then I had this thought.
(a thought you say...)
If the mere presence of this kid, just a kid in the middle of crummy traffic, angry drivers, accidents, and construction could give this man joy--how much more do we, JUST by our presence--our conversation, our relationship (as flawed and humble human beings) offer joy to God's heart in spite of a corrupt and sinful world.
Sometimes it's easy to feel like we can do nothing in this world--like there is absolutely no way to positively effect change in a world that has famine, disease, and genocide---but if for a moment we can offer our presence back to the Creator--who sees the pain, the hopelessness--we can give Him joy too-and continue carrying on, doing the work we are meant to--with a joy that is mirrored back.
I don't believe you can carry on without joy. I think so many people lose their bliss, their joy their spirit and continue on with merely a shell-and that is how they become numb to the world around them, and how they are beaten down by the world around them.
Joy doesn't mean happiness-but it means not becoming disheartened when life becomes difficult---it means sharing your sorrows rather then trying to bear them alone--it means also sharing bliss. There's no formula...just living like the guy in the car--looking ahead at the traffic--aware of the world enough to sense danger--but also being aware that he was unable to change it, unable to move it, and in that moment--the converation with his little boy was all that really mattered.
That's joy.