thirst for righteousness

there are no black people in the game of "Guess Who."

yesterday, some of my tutoring kids were playing this game when i came upon this realization--on the board there were white people, latino people, old people, young people, men, women. all my tutoring kids that day were black.

i've been thinking more about joy and how it differs from happiness. my brief searching has brought me to this: happiness is fleeting. joy is the constant presence of God.
apparently, the root of "happy" is "hap", which means "luck." "joy" was a lil harder to find, but the root i found was "i rejoice" and "noble." i think this fact alone explains mountains.

speaking of mountains, i also came across an interesting sermon about Jesus teaching the Beatitudes in Matthew. apparently, the word "blessed" or "happy" found in most translations of the text comes from the Greek word "makarios," which can similarly be described as "joy." after all, to be blessed is to believe in God, and to believe in Him is to be filled with inexpressible and glorious joy, right? =)

anywho, back to Guess Who. i was reading the Beatitudes and came to the 4th one, which got me thinking. "Blessed(or Joyful) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." well then i had to look up the word "righteousness." shoot, i don't think i've ever used a dictionary this many times in my whole life. but what i found was really intriguing. to be righteous is to be just; so righteousness is also justice.

joyful are those who hunger and thirst for justice. perhaps that's why i feel so much joy when tutoring each afternoon, when i even just think about the kids in my neighborhood. perhaps that's why i'm loving working for Abundant Life. perhaps that's why i feel so much passion and frustration over a Guess Who game. God is just, and He is constantly present in those who seek justice.

Joy is a much more diverse creature than i thought.